Fear Itself
by CrankshaftRabbit
Summary: When Blossom starts having nightmares about Brick, she tries to avoid him at all costs. But disater ensues when the Rowdyruff leader becomes curious about her relunctance to fight him. Brick x Blossom. Rating has changed. News for a Sequel Inside.
1. The City of Townsville

**AN: Now this is my first throw at a PPG fic so please be nice to it. Future chapters will be longer and more interesting. Brick x Blossom pairing.**  
><strong>DISCLAIMER: I do not own Powerpuff Girls. Craig McCracken owns them.<strong>  
><strong>Enjoy!<strong>

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><p>-Chapter 1: The City of Townsville...-<p>

The day began like any other. The Powerpuff Sisters woke up cheerfully to another morning. The routine was the same. Getting dressed and ready for school. It could be a normal day provided that nobody attempted to destroy or take over the city. The girls were about ready to leave when the Professor stopped them.

"Girls, don't forget your lunches!" he called out.

"We won't, Professor." Bubbles chirped.

"See you this afternoon!" Blossom said.

The trio flew off to their school, Pokey Oaks. Their teacher greeted them wholeheartedly.

"Good morning, girls!" Ms. Keene said.

"Good morning, Ms. Keene!" the girls replied in unison.

Today was reading advanced poetry, adding and multiplying bigger numbers, and studying fine art. Recess involved Buttercup playing dodge ball with Mitch Michelson, Bubbles still drew pictures on the blacktop with chalk, and Blossom had her nose buried in a book. The Powerpuff leader had been quite a bit of a bookworm lately. It really annoyed Buttercup, especially when she attempted to get the red-head's attention. Just before the final bell tolled, the Powerpuff hotline rang out. As always, it was Blossom to be the one to answer it.

"What's the trouble, mayor?" she asked.

"Oh girls!" the mayor cried. "The Rowdyruff Boys are wreaking havoc all over town! We need your help!"

"We're on it, mayor!"

The girls zipped off to the city center to see what damage was wrought by their male counter parts. Buildings were half destroyed and one was on fire. But no boys.

"I wonder where they are." Bubbles said.

"Eh, they probably flew off, the cowards." Buttercup remarked.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU CALLING A COWARD?"

The girls turned around to see Boomer, Brick, and a twitching Butch. Brick was especially displeased at being labeled as a coward.

"Oh, how good of you to join us, boys." Blossom said in a dignified voice, with her hands on her hips.

"You dare call _us_ cowards?" Brick spat. "We'll make cowards out of you!"

On that note, the two teams went into battle. Blossom against Brick, Buttercup against Butch, and Bubbles against Boomer. Each fought hard against the other. No rules were followed, just plain fighting. Both with their own goals. The Powerpuff Girls to protect the city they called home, the Rowdyruff Boys just to destroy the girls once and for all. Soon the fight reached a boiling point, which both the girls and the boys used their special attacks to bring their rivals to their knees. Finally, the Powerpuff Girls crashed into the ground with the Rowdyruff laughing victoriously and evilly.

"I guess that shows them!" Brick smugly exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Boomer piped in. "We showed them!"

"Shut up, Boomer."

Butch started laughing at Brick's command to their blue clad brother as they flew away. A few minutes later, the girls recovered from their blows.

"Man, I hate those Rowdyruff Boys!" Buttercup growled.

"Me too." Bubbles added.

"Don't worry, girls." Blossom said. "We'll get 'em next time."

Little did the red-headed leader know that there wouldn't be much of a next time.


	2. The First Nightmare

**AN: I forgot to mention last chapter that this takes place a couple years after the original seires. Just thought I'd square that away.**

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><p>-Chapter 2: The First Nightmare-<p>

The sun was setting and the girls, after trying and failing to locate the boys again, had gone home and were sitting down to dinner. Professor Utonium noticed how melancholy Buttercup and Blossom were.

"Buttercup, Bubbles, what's the matter?" he asked.

"...we sort of lost against the Rowdyruff Boys." Buttercup muttered.

"Oh cheer up, girls. I'm sure you'll get 'em next time around."

Blossom all the while, had her head buried in a book. Again. She was reading a story which caused the pink clad girl to become very absorbed into it. The Professor soon noticed her.

"Blossom, no reading at the dinner table." he said. "You might ruin your book."

"Oops. Sorry, Professor." Blossom said, quickly discarding the book.

"Man, Blossom, all you ever do these days is read." Buttercup ranted. "You're smart enough already, aren't you?"

"I like reading." Blossom replied in a defensive manner. "I find it very entertaining."

Buttercup rolled her lime colored eyes.

"Whatever." she said. "TV's a lot better..."

XXXXXXX

Later that night, the girls got ready for bed and the Professor came into their room to tuck them in.

"Goodnight, girls." he said, shutting the light off.

"Goodnight, Professor!" the girls replied.

Before Utonium went to his own bed, he left the their door ajar and the light in the hallway on for Bubbles. Poor girl still wasn't over her fear of the dark. As the night wore on, everything was dead silent. No sound was uttered or erected. The moon hung high and full. The girls peacefully slept without a worry or care. All except one.

xxxxxxx

_She ran and ran. When her legs gave out, and she could literally run no more, she took flight. Anything to get away...from HIM. Blossom didn't understand why she was fleeing from her pursuer, nor why he was chasing her to begin with._

_All Blossom knew, was to get away. Far away. She didn't dare to look back, for fear of her attacker catching up with her if she did. Blossom came to an empty building. Perhaps she could hide there. She burst inside and frantically searched for cover. It was dark and deadly quiet. Blossom shivered from her hiding place. She still had absolutely no idea whom it was that she was running from. Until his voice was heard._

_"Come out, Blossom. Come out, come out, wherever you are..."_

_The bow-topped girl gasped. She recognized that voice from just about anywhere. It was Brick. But why was he after her and just her? And why the hell was she running from his for? For some reason, something deep inside her mind and gut told her that this was bad. Really freaking bad. The red-head remained in her spot, not making a sound, lest Brick should find her. The Rowdyruff Boy continued to search for her, probing every nook and cranny. Just when Blossom thought that he had missed her, Brick had found her._

_"AHA! There you are!" he shouted loud enough for his voice to echo off the walls._

_Blossom let out a gasp and tried to fly away. Finally, Brick cornered her. The Powerpuff leader was ready to fight him, but there was something strange. Brick didn't look like he was going to blast her up. He had a disturbing and almost lustful look on his face. It downright frightened her._

_"Don't worry." Brick whispered evilly, after seeing her fear. "I won't bite...much..."_

xxxxxxx

Before the nightmare could continue, Blossom jolted up, gasping. Beads of sweat were trickling down her face. Her actions caused her sisters to awaken.

"Ermmm...Blossom?" Buttercup moaned. "What happened?"

"Blossom? Are you okay?" Bubbles called out softly.

The red-headed girl was still trapped in her own little world. What the hell brought that on? By far, it was the most frightening thing that Blossom had ever experienced.

"Hey Blossom, you okay?" Buttercup asked.

"I'm...I'm fine." Blossom stammered.

The pink-clad girl just couldn't tell her sisters about the awful dream she just had. She just couldn't.

"I...I just a bad dream." Blossom stammered again.

"About what?" Bubbles asked curiously.

"Aaaah, you've been reading too much stuff, Bloss." Buttercup snorted.

"Yes! That's what it was! I read a horror story before bed." Blossom said quickly, hoping to throw off her sisters.

"I'm going back to sleep..." Buttercup grumbled, plopping her head against a pillow.

Blossom looked down at her blanket covered knees. She then felt a gentle nudge on her arm. It was Bubbles offering her a stuffed animal.

"Um, no thanks, Bubbles." Blossom said softly with a smile. "I think I can manage without one."

"Are you sure?" the baby-blue clad girl asked.

"Yes. Goodnight."

Both girls resumed their nocturnal slumbered. Blossom however was still lost in her dream. Thinking.


	3. What Followed and the 2nd Nightmare

-Chapter 3: What Followed and the 2nd Nightmare-

The very next morning was a Saturday, so the girls were able to sleep in. When they did finally get up, Blossom was the last to wake. This was very unusual, because she always woke up along with her sisters. It seemed that the previous night's terrors had prevented her from getting a well deserved rest. Buttercup had noticed her right away.

"Man Blossom, you look awful." the lime eyed girl remarked.

"Speak for yourself..." Blossom mumbled.

Buttercup let out an 'hmph' and went about her way towards the kitchen for breakfast. Blossom meanwhile was lost in her thoughts throughout the entire meal. Unlike most nightmares and dreams she had before, this one played fresh in mind every second. It still gave her the shivers. Her sisters had remained oblivious about it because she hadn't told them about it yet. After thinking it through a few times more, the pink clad girl decided not to make anything of it. Besides there was really nothing to say about it and more likely it was Blossom's imagination overworking her mind. The Powerpuff Hotline in the living room rang. This time, it was Bubbles who answered it.

"Hello, Mayor." she sang.

"Oh Bubbles! Mojo Jojo is tearing up the city again!" the mayor cried.

"Don't worry, Mayor. We'll be right there!"

She put down the phone and was immediately joined by her sisters.

"What is it, Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"It's Mojo Jojo again." the baby-blue clad girl replied.

"Let's go!" Blossom exclaimed.

XXXXXXX

The rest of the day went on like normal. The Powerpuff Girls fought Mojo Jojo, two robbers who attempted to sack a bank and even the Amoeba Boys and sent them all into the slammer. It was further proof to Blossom that she needn't worry about the 'silly dream' she had the night before. So that night, she went to bed in the normal and cheerful mood along with the rest of her sisters.

xxxxxxx

_Blossom felt strange. Really, really strange. She felt somewhat warm, like she ran the mile on a track field. The red-head could feel little droplets of sweat trickling down her skin. Everything was pitch dark. Blossom attempted to open her eyes but when she finally could, her vision was extremely blurry. The dim lights appeared to be candles, but they could have been something else, like stars. Blossom desperately wanted to investigate and find out where on earth she was, but she strangely felt limp and exhausted. Even more stranger, strands of her hair seemed to be sticking to her face and neck, like she had been sweating. Blossom herself was breathing in little gasps. The poor lass had no idea what was going on. The she saw Brick looming over her, being a little sweaty and with his hair messed up like herself. He was smiling an evil, sadistic, devious, and toothy grin._

xxxxxxx

Blossom woke up screaming. It caused Buttercup and Bubbles to jolt awake. Poor Bubbles nearly screamed herself in shock. Buttercup scrambled to quiet her pink clad sister down.

"Whoa, Blossom! Calm down!" the lime clad sister cried.

The Professor who had been awakened by all the commotion Blossom made, came rushing into their room, hastily flipping the light switch on.

"Girls? What's going on?" he cried.

At this point, Blossom's screams had turned to frightened sobs. She was terrified by the vivid images in her head. Buttercup was struck and concerned to see Blossom so emotional like this, as she rubbed her back. It took a lot for the red head to cry so openly. Bubbles was just as worried, she was about to cry herself. The girls had never in their entire lives seen their leader so emotional like this. Blossom herself was scared out of her wits. The Professor sat down on their bed and began to rub the pink clad girl's back himself.

"Blossom? Are you alright, honey?" he asked.

Blossom immediately clung to her creator and shook her head all the while trying to control herself. The rest of her family looked at her with great concern.

"Girls, I'm going to take Blossom down to the kitchen for a moment." Professor Utonium said.

Buttercup and Bubbles nodded as he scooped up their sister and carried her downstairs into the kitchen. After sitting her down at the table, the Professor went to get her a glass of warm milk. Blossom rubbed the tears out of her eyes and began hiccupping. The Professor gave her the milk and she took a sip and let out another hiccup.

"Now then, would you like to tell me what happened?" Professor Utonium asked softly.

"I...I had a really bad nightmare." Blossom sniffled.

"Oh? What was it about?"

"I...I can't really remember...it was really scary tho..."

Which was a lie. She remembered every detail of it. But Blossom just didn't want to say anything about it.

"It must have been if it's making you this upset." the Professor pointed out. "Are you sure you can't remember any of it?"

Blossom shook her head and took another sip of her milk. She just couldn't bring herself to talk about. Plus Blossom didn't want to dwell on what the Professor and her sisters would think, if she told them what she was having nightmares about. They might think that there might something seriously wrong with her to even think of such things. Untonium on the other hand was worried about how this was affecting his little girl. But he also wasn't going to force anything out of her.

"Well Blossom," Professor Utonium said with a light sigh. "if you ever need to sit down and talk to me about it, just know that I'll be here to listen."

Blossom gave him a smile and a big hug. She knew he meant well, but she still wouldn't fess up.

"Thanks, Professor." Blossom said.

"Now then, why don't you go back to bed." the Professor told her. "And no more nightmares."

They both went back upstairs and into their own rooms. Blossom was greeted by her anxious sisters.

"You okay, Blossom?" Buttercup asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Blossom replied softly.

The trio went back to their bed and resumed their nocturnal slumber.


	4. Living in Fear

-Chapter 4: Living in Fear-

A week went by and Blossom was slowly and unwittingly becoming a fearful person. The nightmares didn't end, but she was no longer waking up screaming like before. She made herself suppress that because she didn't want to wake her sisters or the Professor. Blossom would tell herself that it was just a silly dream and she shouldn't worry so much about it.

XXXXXX

Another weekend had come and the Powerpuff girls were doing a perimeter around the city to make sure that all was well. Blossom wanted to do this so that she could get over her foolish fears. Just when they were almost through, they heard a cry for help.

"HELP! POWERPUFF GIRLS!"

The pink clad girl, full of confidence once again, rallied her sisters for the fight for justice.

"Let's go, girls!"

They all flew off to help the poor man in need. When they got to their destination, Blossom froze on the spot. It was the Rowdyruff Boys beating the bystander senseless for kicks.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" Buttercup shouted.

The boys turned their attention on them, completely forgetting the man they were assaulting.

"Gladly!" Brick shouted back.

The Rowdyruff team charged at the girls, causing them to scatter. When they were able to regroup, Blossom quickly went to Buttercup's side.

"Um, Buttercup?" she said rather timidly. "You think you can take Brick this time?"

The lime clad girl gave her sister a confused look but obliged to her request.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Now as they fought, it was Blossom against Butch, Buttercup against Brick, and Bubbles against Boomer. Blossom had become quite unnerved in Brick's presence for justifiable reasons. But she had a job to do and fighting Butch made her feel a little more at ease. Like before, the two super-powered teams fought hard against each other. the girls seemed to have the upper hand this time. Something that made Brick feel very angry and frustrated about. He did not like to lose, especially to the Powerpuff Girls. They both used their special attacks against each other which resulted in a backfire that scattered each and every one of them to a different area.

Blossom crashed in the Museum. One of her most favorite places to be. She rubbed her head and cleared it of dust and rubble. The pink clad girl then flew out of the building in search of her sisters.

"Buttercup? Bubbles?" Blossom called out.

No answer. Blossom flew a bit faster to continue searching. Suddenly she was zapped from behind which caused her to fall to the ground once again. When she recovered she froze at her attacker again. It was Brick.

"Ha ha ha! How's that, stupid girl?" he sneered.

"I...I..." Blossom stammered.

She couldn't help herself. Her heart was crashing in and out of her ribcage. Flashbacks of her nightmares forced their way into her mind. One look at Brick sent her flying away at break-neck speed. Brick blinked for a moment and then became pissed. He was NOT pleased at this and rather insulted to see his enemy flee with her tail between her legs.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE, AND FIGHT!" he shouted.

Blossom continued to flee as fast as she could go in the air. She was starting to get confused as to whether this was another nightmare, or if this was real as life itself. Fortunately, before Brick could catch up with her, Buttercup popped out of nowhere, and slammed the Rowdyruff leader into a building. Blossom was nearly hyperventilating when she saw Butch coming at her. Pulling herself back together, the Powerpuff leader went at him as well. Buttercup was still fighting Brick when he apparently had a bone to pick with her.

"Hey! What the heck is up with your stupid sister?" he demanded.

The lime clad girl honestly didn't know herself. She had seen Blossom run away from him and was just as confused as he. It totally wasn't like Blossom to flee from battle.

"I don't know." Buttercup replied. "Why don't you go ask her yourself?"

"Gladly!" Brick exclaimed.

He zipped past her and rocketed towards the pink clad girl. Buttercup was not pleased on how he left in the dust.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet, you jerk!" she exclaimed.

Brick completely ignored her. Meanwhile, Blossom managed to beat down the hyperactive Butch to the ground. The red-head was just barely getting over her bout of intense fear.

'I need to control myself.' she thought. 'I can't protect Townsville or anyone else if I'm going overboard with some stupid dream I had.'

But words were useless. Blossom couldn't convince herself that there was nothing to fear from anything.

"HEY, RED!"

Blossom spun around and froze up again, despite her telling herself that she shouldn't be afraid. Brick meanwhile was conflicted with his own raging emotions regarding how his rival was behaving towards him. Part of him was absolutely enthralled at the fact that the Powerpuff was finally starting to fear him like the threat he truly is and yet, he was angered at the fact that she was fleeing from him in battle. And so suddenly, when in past transgressions showed her to be just as bold and eager to fight as he.

Without a second thought, Blossom flew away from him again with Brick hot on her heels. He was not going to let her get away. Then he suddenly saw Boomer get shot down by Bubbles and then she and Buttercup gave him a zapping, causing him to fall to the ground himself. The Rowdyruff Boys were defeated this time. An almost agitated Blossom regrouped with her sisters.

"Ha! We showed them!" Buttercup boasted.

"Yeah!" Bubbles giggled.

After everything was said and done, Blossom was now starting to feel quite low on her performance during the fight.

"Um, I'm sorry I freaked out a little, guys." she said meekly.

"Yeah, what happened back there?" Buttercup inquired.

Blossom hung her head a little like she was being punished for something.

"I...I don't know what happened." she said softly. "I...think I just lost my nerve for a second."

"Aww, its okay, Blossom." Bubbles said, taking her sister's hand. "No one's perfect."

A smile slowly appeared on the pink clad girl's face.

"Thanks, Bubbles. Now let's go home shall we?"

Both she and Bubbles zipped away at that very moment. However, Buttercup had remained behind. Her lime colored eyes had narrowed when Blossom tried to explain herself, and they still were. Buttercup was becoming quite suspicious. There was certainly something more going on than just her sister losing her nerve. Something was really bugging Blossom, Buttercup could feel, see, and sense it. But seeing as how it would be pointless, she did not press the point. With that, the raven haired girl joined her sisters.

XXXXXX

Later, after the Rowdyruff Boys recovered from their humiliating defeat, they went to one of their hang outs. Butch was crazily punching a tire, muttering how much he hates the Powerpuff Girls, Boomer was off doing goodness knows what, and Brick was leaning against a wall, chewing on a toothpick and lost in thought.

He just couldn't put his finger on it. Just what made that pink clad Powerpuff so unnerved to be around him? More importantly, why was it bothering him so much? Heck, why did he even care? Why would he even give much of a damn if Blossom was suddenly fearful of him? That would be awesome wouldn't it? The more Brick tried to convince himself that he shouldn't even be bothered with the Powerpuff leader's behavior towards him, the more he got rather curious about it. Finally, Brick decided that the next time they attacked those goody two-shoed girls and Blossom still acted weird towards him, he would forcefully investigate this sudden change in her. If she didn't, then he wouldn't give a shit about the subject anymore.


	5. Curiosity is Dangerous

-Chapter 5: Curiosity is Dangerous-

Blossom had another nightmare that night. She did indeed wake up from it, but didn't make a sound. Her mind was going haywire, absolutely haywire. As she went back to sleep, she slightly wrapped an around Buttercup. Buttercup had always been the most fearless of the three and it made Blossom sort of feel 'safer' being closer to her sister. Although she had no idea what made her think this, but if Brick should ever break into their house, Buttercup would beat the hell out of him with no questions asked.

The next morning, when Bubbles and Buttercup were just waking up, the lime clad girl noticed how Blossom was hugging her arm.

"Um...Blossom?" Buttercup called out.

Blossom fluttered her eyes open and noticed that Buttercup was staring lowly at her with a confused expression. She then realized that she still had her sister's arm in her told and immediately released it.

"Oh! Um...sorry!" Blossom apologized.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Buttercup asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Buttercup stared at her as she headed to the bathroom. Something was bugging her red-headed sister, she could feel it. Why Blossom didn't want to talk about was very confusing.

XXXXXXX

It was the start of another week. The Girls zipped away to their school. Everything seemed to be on the normal side except with Blossom. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking of Brick. She even tried shutting off her mind and pay attention to Ms. Keene's interesting history lesson. But thoughts of the crimson Rowdyruff demon kept forcing their way into her mind. Buttercup had been watching Blossom all morning long. Something was definitely up and the pink clad girl for some reason wasn't talking. Buttercup wondered if she told Professor Utonium anything. It didn't look like it, because everything when they discussed their problems to him they'd feel a little bitter. Blossom did not look better. In fact, she looked worse than before. Buttercup thought about telling Ms. Keene about it, and seeing if she could help her. Perhaps maybe Blossom would talk to Ms. Keene even when she wouldn't talk to Professor Utonium or her sisters.

When it was time for recess, Blossom casually walked into the playground rather than zipping out of the classroom like she usually did. Then she was suddenly stepped by her teacher.

"Blossom?" Ms. Keene called out. "Would you come back inside for a moment please?"

Confused and rather surprised, Blossom did as she was told. The elder woman shut the door as soon as they were inside. The pink eyed girl was downright confused.

"Um...did I do something wrong, Ms. Keene?" she asked.

"No, not at all, Blossom." Ms. Keene replied. "Your sister brought it to my attention that something might be bothering you."

Blossom then became extremely miffed. Her pink eyes caught Buttercup looking at them at a distance through the window.

"There's nothing wrong, Ms. Keene." she said in low but irritated voice.

"Are you sure?" the teacher asked. "If there's anything bothering you dear, you can always talk to me."

At first, Blossom considered saying something but at the last minute she changed her mind. After all this was her problem to deal with, not theirs.

"Really, Ms. Keene." the Powerpuff leader insisted. "There's nothing wrong."

Then, Blossom started to feel bad. She didn't like lying to people. Especially to Ms. Keene or the Professor for that matter. But she wanted to handle her own issues.

"Well, alright Blossom. If you insist." Ms. Keene said. "Now why don't you run along outside?"

"Okay, Ms. Keene." Blossom replied. "And thanks."

XXXXXXX

Brick was flying solo through Townsville. He had grown impatient waiting for his brothers to wake up so he went off in search for the Powerpuff Girls on his own. That in itself was a very bold move, especially when the girls could easily out-number him without his brothers to back him up. But strangely enough, the red clad boy was not there to fight. He merely wanted to observe Blossom to see if she was still acting quite weird.

He flew all around Townsville and finally located the girls at their school. He was immediately disgusted by the peaceful and cheerful atmosphere it wrought. It was so sickening to him, it nearly made him want to puke. Brick scanned the playground in search of Blossom but was struck when he found her to be absent when her sisters were present. He hid amongst the trees so Buttercup and Bubbles couldn't see him. Not that he was afraid of getting caught, he just didn't want to deal with them right now. The Rowdyruff's main interest right at the moment was Blossom. After a few minutes of waiting, Brick finally saw Blossom exit the school house looking quite irritated and bold as brass.

'Looks like somebody's ticked.' Brick mentally observed.

He watched her march over to Buttercup who was looking at her with a confused yet no-nonsense expression.

"Just what gives you the right to go and tell people about my personal problems?" Blossom demanded.

"Because it's making you act all paranoid, Blossom." Buttercup said. "You should at least let someone help you with whatever it is."

"Yeah Blossom, we're only trying to help." Bubbles said softly.

There was a brief silence between the three of them.

"Look guys, I appreciate your concern, but there's nothing wrong with me. Honest." Blossom said with a sigh.

Bubbles was obliged to drop the subject, but Buttercup still wouldn't drop it. There was something bothering her sister and she was quite sure of it. But there was no use in pressing the point if Blossom kept resisting.

"Fine. Whatever." Buttercup said. "But don't come crying to me the next time you have another nightmare."

With that, the lime clad girl went off to play another game of dodge ball. Meanwhile within the trees, Brick had a devious grin on his face. He had been watching this whole time and it didn't take him very long to put two and two together. The Rowdyruff leader had realized that his rival was apparently having nightmares about him. Although this would normally have disturbed him in the face of girlish willies, he found it very amusing and interesting. Perhaps it was the fear and paranoia Blossom was exhibiting that appealed greatly to Brick. And even more appealing, he could well use this new bout of fear in Blossom to his advantage.

With wicked thoughts being poured into his mind, the red clad boy flew off.


	6. Close Encounters

-Chapter 6: Close Encounters-

Butch and Boomer were not the least bit happy when they woke up to find that their brother had ditched them. When he finally reappeared, they immediately confronted him.

"Hey, Brick! Where the heck have you been?" Butch exclaimed.

"Around." Brick replied, simply. "Besides, I wasn't gonna wait for you lumps."

Both Butch and Boomer folded their arms at him. Brick of course didn't want to disclose where he had been or his findings to his brothers. He'd rather confront Blossom himself and keep all the fun of it to himself as well. But he still had to keep them somewhat entertained and off his back as he kept them in the dark.

"You wanna go destroy a building or somethin'?" the Rowdyruff leader asked.

"Yeah!" Butch cried out enthusiastically. "Let's go to that Museum place! I wanna blow up all that fancy stuff!"

Sometimes Brick loved his green clad brother's suggestions. It was common knowledge that the Museum happened to be one of Blossom's favorite places. And if they went there to tear it apart, there would be no doubt that the Powerpuff Girls would come racing over there just to protect it in the stupid name of justice.

"Well...I don't know." Brick replied to his brother teasingly. "What do you think, Boomer?"

"Yeah! I wanna blow up fancy stuff too!" the blue clad boy said excitedly.

"All right then. Let's bomb a Museum."

And with that, the three brutish boys flew off to create more mayhem and mischief.

XXXXXXX

Back at Pokey Oaks, it free time and everyone was doing their own little thing. As usual, Blossom was seated in the corner and with her nose buried inside another book. Ms. Keene had taken an interest in the Powerpuff leader's new taste in literature and suggested a few upper-level type books to quell her thirst for more fascinating stories. It was certainly one thing to take her mind off Brick.

The only problem was finding a good story that didn't remind her of him or her situation. First, she peered into _The Phantom of the Opera_ by Gaston Leroux, then she got to the part involving Christine and Erik and it just reminded her too much of Brick. Then, she tried reading a book on Greek myths. It was getting very interesting, until she got to the Hades and Persephone myth.

'Darn it, there's got to be something here that won't make me think of...him.' Blossom muttered mentally.

She dug through her small pile of books and found _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens.

'Much better...'

But before the red headed girl could immerse herself in the classic novel, the Powerpuff Hotline rang. Again, Bubbles went to answer it.

"Hello, Mayor." she answered politely. "What's the trouble?"

"Oh Bubbles, the Rowdyruff Boys are tearing up the Museum!" the elderly man cried. "You've got to stop them!"

"Don't worry, Mayor. We'll get right on it!"

She put down the phone and zipped to her sisters.

"Girls! The Boys are at the Museum causing trouble!" the baby blue clad girl cried.

"Arrgh, not again." Buttercup whined.

Blossom froze up a little when her blonde haired sister mentioned the Rowdyruff Boys. This only meant that she would have to face Brick again, which was something she did NOT want to do. But they were wreaking up one of her favorite places, and she would not allow that on her watch.

"Let's go, girls!" Blossom exclaimed.

With that, they zipped off to the museum.

XXXXXXX

"STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"Ahhhh, shut up!" Brick shouted at the curator.

"Yeah, shut up!" Boomer repeated, whacking the poor man with a rare painting.

The boys then deviously giggled at their handiwork. Suddenly they were confronted by their counterparts.

"Well, if it isn't the babies!" Brick sneered.

Blossom shuddered when Brick gave her a smug look. But she quickly pulled herself together.

"Hey, who are you calling babies?" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Awww," Butch mocked in an infant-like voice. "did we hurt the 'wittle' babies' fweelings?"

That was it. The lime clad girl shot towards the green clad boy and gave him one hell of a pummeling. Bubbles promptly joined the fray in taking Boomer on. Leaving only Brick and Blossom.

"Well Red," the Rowdyruff leader said. "I guess it's just us, huh?"

Blossom was fighting herself and conscience. She had to battle him so the day would be saved. But the pink clad girl couldn't bring herself to face her counterpart.

'What do I do?' she cried mentally.

Brick could very well see that nothing had changed in Blossom. The Powerpuff leader was still getting wigged out at the sight of him.

"What's the matter, Red?" Chicken?" Brick sneered.

Now Blossom's anger began to override her fear of him.

"I'm not afraid of you." she declared.

"Then prove it." Brick challenged.

That gave Blossom more incentive to get over her fears. She charged at him and attempted to punch the living daylights out of the red clad boy. Brick was struck to find her blows easily dodgable. They were weak punches really. Not only that, but Blossom was fighting with her eyes closed.

'She's not even putting that much effort into it.' the Rowdyruff leader thought.

Frustration started to overthrow her fear and Blossom began to fight like she normally would. But Brick could easily see that it wasn't much of anything. It was time to turn the heat on. He launched himself at his counterpart and pinned her to the wall. Blossom struggled to get out of the binding vice.

"Urgh! Let go!" she cried.

"I don't think so, Red." Brick hissed. "Besides, I've got a bone to pick with ya!"

"Meaning?"

Then, Brick got closer to her.

"I understand you're dreamin' about me..._babe_..." he whispered in her ear.

Blossom froze and stared at him with utter disbelief.

"How...how...did you...?" she stammered.

"Let's just say I did a little snooping around when you started acting all weird." Brick quietly leered. "So tell me, just what am I doing in your dreams? I'd like to know."

"...NO!"

Blossom blew Brick away with her laser eyes and flew frantically away. She raced through the halls in a desperate search for her sisters. By chance, she ran into Bubbles, who was struck to find her sister looking like she'd seen a ghost.

"Blossom? Are...are you alright?" she asked.

The poor pink clad girl was just shaking with fright.

"W-where's Buttercup?" Blossom rasped.

Their answer came when the lime clad girl was thrown into the wall. Butch was laughing maniacally at her.

"Buttercup! Are you okay?" Bubbles cried.

"Grrr...yeah I'm fine." Buttercup muttered.

The Rowdyruff Boys regrouped and jeered at their rivals. Then Brick suddenly decided that he was bored.

"Ehh, I'm getting tired of this place." he announced. "Let's get outta here."

"Yeah!" Boomer piped, being the first to leave.

Butch gave an odd look and then joined his blond haired brother. Brick turned to leave, but not before facing the Powerpuff Girls first.

"See you later, _Blossom._" he sneered.

Blossom shuddered in fear as he flew away. Buttercup and Bubbles looked at each other in confusion.

"What the heck was that about?" Buttercup ranted.

"I have no idea." Bubbles replied.

Blossom was silent. She kept staring at the spot where the Rowdyruff leader stood and shuddered again at her close call.

XXXXXXX

Later that afternoon, Brick went off on his own again to make his rival fess up. And he wouldn't back down until he was fully satisfied with whatever she had to say. The red clad boy knew where the Powerpuff Girls lived. He and his brothers had found out when Bubbles disguised herself as Boomer. Easy as pie. The only challenge would be getting Blossom alone without any of her sisters noticing.

Brick flew towards the Powerpuff residence and carefully peered into the windows. The family had just completed their evening meal and the girls were helping the Professor clean up. The whole atmosphere of it just mad Brick want to puke again. When the Professor went to go and fetch the dish soap, he found that they were nearly flat out.

"Oh dear.." he murmured to himself.

"What is it, Professor?" Blossom asked when she and her sisters flew up to him.

"Well, it looks like were nearly out of soap. Buttercup, Bubbles, I know it's late but do you think you can run to the store and pick up a bottle? I'm not sure if this will last..."

"Sure thing, Professor." Bubbles chirped.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Buttercup said.

Then, Utonium gave them money and off they went. When Brick saw them leave, he made a devious and wicked smile.


	7. Blackmail

-Chapter 7: Blackmail-

While her sisters were out, Blossom cleared out the living room with an armful of books. Floating up the stairs, she heard a strange thud. Perplexed, the pink clad girl cautiously entered her room and found that one of the three windows forced open.

"That's strange." Blossom murmured to herself. "Oh well.."

She then flew to her closet to put away her books. As the red-headed did so, a dark Shadow fell on her form. Blossom hadn't noticed this, because she was so absorbed in alphabetizing her books. The shadow moved closer and closer to the pink clad girl who remained completely unaware. Then, two hands suddenly shot out and grabbed Blossom. One arm wrapped around securely on her frame and the other covered her mouth. Blossom let out a muffled cry and tried to break free. The unknown assailant then flew out the window with her in tow. The Powerpuff next realized that she was in the park and her captor had suddenly released her. Blossom frantically looked about her.

"W-who's there?" she nervously called out.

There was silence. The only thing she heard was the ruffling of the leave in the trees.

"Hello, Blossom." a voice called out.

The pink clad girl spun around and gasped. It was Brick. Blossom, trembling, backed away.

"B-brick?" she cried. "W-wha...Why did you..._what is this_?"

"An interrogation." Brick simply replied. "I like to know what it is about me that makes you tick."

Blossom's eyes widened and she backed away again.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." she stammered.

"Oh don't play dumb with me, Red!" Brick snapped. "Both you and I know that you're flipping dreaming about me, and I want to know why!"

Blossom continued to back away from the Rowdyruff leader. Without another word, she took off.

"Oh no, you don't!" Brick yelled.

He chased her all over the park. Blossom tried to escape him but he remained on her tail. She didn't want this to get into the city, because then innocent people could get hurt. Brick wouldn't hesitate to injure someone that got in his way. Finally, the red clad boy zapped her with his laser eyes.

"AUGH!" Blossom cried.

She crashed landed into a tree and got stuck into the branches.

"Oh great." the pink clad girl muttered to herself.

But Blossom could at least use this opportunity to try and hide from Brick. She remained dead quiet so she wouldn't be found. However, luck wasn't on her side. Brick had easily found her anyway. What was worse, was that Blossom was stuck. Brick was starting to have devilish fun with this. He made his way toward his rival who was desperately trying to find a way to get unstuck. Brick could clearly see that she was totally stuck within the branches and suddenly felt compelled to assist her.

"Here, lemme help ya." he said in a low voice.

Poor Blossom tried getting away from him.

"S-stay away!" she cried.

Now she could've used her powers to get rid of him, but Blossom in her panicked state, couldn't think straight or clear enough to even conceive the thought of using them. At this point, Brick wouldn't mind in the slightest that if he was blasted away. It didn't seem like Blossom was going to use her powers, but it certainly didn't hurt to be cautious. Brick approached the trembling Blossom whose fear quickly turned to pure terror. She turned her face away from him and screwed her eyes shut.

'Buttercup...Bubbles...help me!'

XXXXXXX

Back at the Powerpuff household, Buttercup and Bubbles had returned from their errand and quickly discovered that their sister was missing.

"Hey, where Blossom?" Buttercup inquired.

"I don't know." Bubbles replied. "She's not upstairs."

They went into the kitchen where the Professor was barely finishing with the dishes.

"Um, Professor?" Bubbles called out. "Where's Blossom?"

"Why, I don't know, Bubbles." the Professor said. "I think she's upstairs."

The baby-blue clad girl gave a worried glance at her raven-haired sister who quickly zipped up the stairs. She burst into their bedroom and discovered a pile of books strewn across the floor and one of their windows wide open. Buttercup's heart started to pound with the awful realization. Was Blossom kidnapped? She flew out the window and frantically called out for her sister.

"Blossom? Blossom! BLOSSOOOOOOM!"

With no answer to be heard, Buttercup flew frantically back into the house and zipped down the stairs.

"Bubbles, we've got trouble!" she rasped. "Blossom's missing!"

Bubbles gasped.

"M-missing?" she cried. "But...why?"

"I don't know why she's missing she just is!" Buttercup ranted. "We need to go and look for her!"

With that, they flew out of the house and began searching for their sister.

"Blossom?" Buttercup called out.

"Blossom!" Bubbles also called out.

There was still no response. Buttercup was starting to get very worried. Blossom had been acting quite oddly the weeks, and now suddenly she turned up missing. This had disaster written all over it.

'We have to find her.' Buttercup frantically thought.

XXXXXXX

Back at the park, Blossom was still trying to fend off Brick with little success. He managed to get close enough to her to see that her foot was caught in between some thick branches.

"I'll help you outta that, Red." Brick told her. "If you tell me about these dreams you've been having about me."

Blossom gave him a disgusted look.

"I'd rather help myself." she cried. "And besides, it's none of your business."

"True." Brick agreed. "I could just leave you stuck, but nothing's gonna make me leave you at all."

Blossom frowned in despair at this.

"So, what'll it be?" Brick purred.

The Powerpuff leader gave out a heaving sigh in defeat.

"Al-alright." she muttered. "But only if you agree not to tell anyone else."

"No guarantees." Brick said.

Blossom gave him a mad look. But Brick wasn't really planning to tell anyone else anyway. He had no obligation to either.

"Alright, last week...I've been having nightmares..about you." Blossom admitted.

"Tell me something I don't know." Brick remarked.

Blossom gave him a rather dirty look but continued with her explanation.

"You...you were doing strange things...to me."

"Hmmm, what kind of things?" Brick coyly asked.

The pink clad girl made a shudder. It was bad enough having to talk about it.

"I-I don't know, Brick!" she cried in exasperation. "Now will you just leave me alone?"

Brick was not satisfied with her explanation however. There obviously had to be more to it, or she wouldn't be so visibly upset by it.

"Alright then." the Rowdyruff Boy said. "But I ain't gonna drop this, not by a long shot, so you can forget it. I'll be back for you very soon."

With that, he flew off without even helping her out of the wooden vice. Blossom stared in bewilderment as the breeze ruffled her red hair. She suddenly heard her sister calling out her.

"Blossom! Blossom!"

"I-I here!" she cried out.

Soon enough, Buttercup and Bubbles had found her. The poor girl was still stuck in the tree.

"What the heck happened, Blossom?" Buttercup cried.

Blossom thought hard. She didn't want them to know that she was with Brick. The enemy.

"I...I wanted to go with you guys." she stammered.

Buttercup raised an eyebrow at this.

"And you crashed into a tree?" she questioned.

"Y-yeah. Silly huh?" Blossom nervously giggled.

'More like stupid.'

Actually, Buttercup was thinking how lame and full of bullcrap her sister's explanation was. But she kept quiet, at least until they got back home. Buttercup and Bubbles freed Blossom from the wooden vice and they zipped home. Watching them from afar, was Brick.

XXXXXXX

Just before they went to bed, Buttercup pulled Blossom into the bathroom.

"Buttercup! What gives?" Blossom cried.

"I need to talk to you." Buttercup replied in a very direct tone.

"About what?"

The lime clad girl put her hands on her hips and gave her sister a no-nonsense look.

"What you said back at the park was pretty lame for a lie." she said. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

Blossom gave her a rather shocked and offended look. Like she was being falsely accused of something.

"_What_ are you talking about?" Blossom cried.

"Come on, Blossom. Spill it!" Buttercup exclaimed. "There's something going on, isn't there?"

"Buttercup, for the last time already, _there's nothing going on_! Really!"

Buttercup stared at her with her lime eyes narrowed and her arms folded. They both had a stare down with either one relenting. Finally, Buttercup angrily floated away.

"I think you need to a reality check, Blossom." she murmured.

Blossom looked down at the floor before joining her sisters to bed.

'I...I don't have to listen to her.' she thought to herself. 'This is none of her business.'

The pink clad girl seemed to have trouble convincing herself that everything was alright.

During the middle of the night, when all three of the Powerpuff Girls were deep asleep, a shadowy figure was stalking about. It was Brick again. He wasn't quite ready to rejoin his brothers yet. There was one thing he wanted to do before leaving.

He again approached the Powerpuff residence and peered through one of the three windows. The red clad boy watched the girls as they slept, but his furious crimson eyes were fixated on only one. And he snickered about how she even wore her red bow to bed.


	8. Reign of Terror

-Chapter 8: Reign of Terror-

Blossom hardly had any sleep that night. She had another horrible dream about Brick. It was so vivid that it seemed very real.

xxxxxxx

_Blossom was again fleeing from Brick. This time, she managed to find her sisters before he was able to catch her._

_"Buttercup, Bubbles! Thank goodness I found you!" Blossom cried breathlessly in joy. "You...you got to help me!"_

_The two sisters turned around and looked angrily at her._

_"We're not helping you!" Buttercup exclaimed._

_"Yeah, you don't want our help!" Bubbles added._

_Blossom stared at them with shock and utter disbelief, trying to think of something to say in her defense or something to convince them otherwise. It was quite useless as they began to turn their back on her and Blossom was left absolutely speechless._

_"But...I...I.." she murmured to herself._

_"There you are, Red."_

_Gasping, Blossom spun around and saw Brick approaching her. She nervously back away from him. Blossom was now in a tight bind. She couldn't run from Brick and she could not turn to her sisters for help. Her pink eyes began to fill with frightened tears._

_"P-please, Brick." she begged with a broken voice. "D-don't..."_

_The Rowdyruff leader just laughed at her fear and came nearer._

_"Don't worry, Red." he said with a sneer. "I promise not to be rough on ya..."_

xxxxxxx

Poor Blossom jolted awake, horrified by what she had seen. She nearly began sobbing but managed to control herself before she broke down. The pink clad girl got out of bed and flew into the bathroom and started washing her face. Blossom looked at herself in the mirror and then back down on her heart-shaped sink. Then one tear fell. And then another. Finally when she could no longer keep her emotions at bay, Blossom plopped down on the toilet and started sobbing away. Sitting a crouched position with her face buried in her knees. Her cries were silent to ensure that her sisters would hear her.

XXXXXXX

All the stress and paranoia Blossom experienced, were starting to take their toll on her. Buttercup and Bubbles were getting increasingly worried about her. But it was no use trying to get anything out of her. Every time when the Powerpuff Hotline rang the next day, Blossom became nervous as to whom the perpetrator might be. When it wasn't the Rowdyruff Boys, she instantly became relieved. Going out to fight other villains relieved her of her anxiety. While it did little to boost her confidence that she needn't be afraid of anything, it certainly made her feel less wary of Brick.

When they were all back at home, the girls were watching their favorite television programming. They completely were absorbed into it until the Professor came in.

"Buttercup, Bubbles, can you give me a hand in here for a minute?" he called out.

"Sure, Professor!" the two girls said in unison.

They zipped into the kitchen along with Untonium, leaving Blossom behind on the couch. She continued to watch the television set when a commercial notice came on. It told of harassment and bullying awareness. Blossom couldn't help but see herself as the victim on the commercial. She quickly turned the channel to another programming that was moreorless the same thing.

"Ugghhh!" Blossom cried out.

She went into the kitchen to join her sisters and to see if she could be of any use.

"Anything I can do, Professor?" Blossom asked.

"No, I think we're alright here, Blossom." the Professor said. "But do you think you can take out the garbage?"

"Sure."

Blossom went and picked up the garbage bag and floated out to the front. The cans were placed on the curve so that the Garbage Man could pick it up the next morning. The pink clad girl floated silently towards the cans and dumped the full bag into one. Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the bushes to her right. Blossom jumped at the noise and froze.

"Is...is anyone there...?" she nervously called out.

Silence. The Powerpuff leader stood there staring at the bush, preparing herself for anything. Finally she blew it off as nothing.

'This is stupid.' she thought. 'It's probably a squirrel or something."

Blossom was ready to go back inside, taking one last look behind her when she suddenly bumped into something.

"Oof!"

"I can't believe you fell for that."

Blossom gasped when she realized who she bumped into. It was Brick. Now he was barring her way into her house.

"B-brick!" the pink clad girl cried. "Wha-what are you...?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Brick said in a smug tone. "I ain't done with you yet."

Blossom stared at him with mute horror. In a split second she suddenly screamed.

"BUTTERCUP, BUB-"

Brick was quick to silence her by covering her mouth. He then wrapped an arm around her waist and speedily flew off. Far from the Powerpuff home. Blossom continued screaming and struggling in the Rowdyruff leader's hold. When they were a little farther away, Blossom finally broke free and zapped Brick with her laser eyes.

"AUGH!" he yelled.

Blossom quickly flew away at top speed. All she cared about was getting away, far away from Brick. The poor girl was now hyperventilating. She tried getting back to her house, but in her massive hysteria, she got lost. Normally, Blossom would be able to locate anything no problem. Now, as she was in sheer panic mode, she blindly flew around and kept confusing her routes. The Powerpuff flew by the lake where she and her sisters normally swim during the hot summer days. Then she was suddenly shot down by Brick. Blossom dropped into the lake with a huge splash. When she surfaced, she splashed around in a frenzy because it was so dark and she couldn't see nor breathe. Poor Blossom gave herself up for lost until Brick zipped by and pulled her out.

"Aww dang, now look at ya!" Brick complained.

Blossom was coughing, sniffling, and shivering. The water was quite cold. And the breeze in the air didn't help at all.

"Stay here." Brick commanded. "You move, and I'll pound ya!"

With that, he flew off. Blossom didn't want to move anyway. She was so cold. She hugged herself and kept hopping up and down to warm up. Then the red-head felt something plush wrap around her. It was a towel. Brick had returned with towel. Blossom gave a look of dread.

"Tuh-T-tell m-me y-y-you di-didn't stuh-steal t-that..." she rasped with her teeth chattering.

"What are you going do about it if I did?" Brick hissed lowly.

Blossom frowned. She didn't want to be the receiver of stolen goods. She had learned a hard lesson about that long ago. But right now, she had little choice in the matter. Brick continued to wrap her up tightly in the towel and scooped her up after doing so. When he took flight, Blossom began to panic.

"Wuh..wait!" she cried. "Where are you taking me?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out later." Brick said nonchalantly.

XXXXXXX

When the Powerpuff leader delayed in returning to the house, Buttercup and Bubbles went outdoors to investigate. When they found that she was no longer there, they began to panic.

"Not again!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"W-where's Blossom?" Bubbles cried.

"I have no idea. But we have to find her, and fast."

Without another word, they took off into the night sky.

XXXXXXX

Blossom next realized that she was somewhere deep in the woods. She shivered from the cold and from fear. Just where on earth was Brick taking her? Exhaustion then started to set in and Blossom very reluctantly closed her eyes in slumber. When she opened her eyes again she felt a slow rocking motion. Her vision was quite blurry. All she could make out was orange flickers of light, that along with the slow rocking motion.

"You finally awake?"

Blossom looked around and her vision became a little clearer. She saw Brick looking down on her with a soft but irritated look on his face. Blossom then saw that they were both on a rocking chair which is what created the slow and soothing back and forth motions.

"Wuh...where am I?" Blossom asked.

"We're in that stupid pink guy's shack." Brick told her.

"Fuzzy Lumpkins?" What did you...?"

"What do you think I did, Red? I tied him up and locked him in his closet."

Blossom made an exasperated groan. Fuzzy was a villain yes, but he didn't deserve that. Especially when he was just minding his own business and not causing any trouble. Blossom wriggled around in Brick's arms and found that she was still damp.

"Hey, stop squirmin'!" Brick snapped.

"For your information, I have to get home!" Blossom exclaimed.

"You're not going anywhere until I say so!"

Blossom let out another groan. There was a silence between them before the pink clad girl broke it.

"Just what do you want with me any?" Blossom exclaimed.

Brick shrugged.

"Eh, I don't know." he replied. "Maybe I just felt like bringin' you here."

Blossom's eye widened.

"Seriously?" she said with a wry voice.

"Yeah, why not?" Brick said casually. "I don't need a flipping reason for _everything_."

Blossom looked down into his red and black striped shirt. The rocking motion of the chair that she and the Rowdyruff were in was starting to relax her unintentionally. The towel wrapped around the Powerpuff leader's form became damp and uncomfortable. Brick was starting to notice this and he flew out of the rocking chair and near the open fire place. He sat Blossom and himself on the floor and began rubbing the dry parts of the towel all over the pink clad girl.

"What are you doing?" she sputtered.

"Drying you off, what does it look like?" Brick snapped with a raised eyebrow.

Blossom sat nervously in front of the fire place staring at the flames as they flickered and made crackling noises.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked in a low voice.

"Arrghhh, how many times do I hafta tell ya, Red?" Brick ranted. "I'm doing it because _**I FEEL LIKE IT**_!"

'But there has to be more of a reason.' Blossom thought.

Very quickly, exhaustion again began to fill her already overwhelmed mind. She let out a little yawn and drowsily closed her eyes.


	9. Sick

-Chapter 9: Sick-

Buttercup and Bubbles had searched high and low for their pink clad. When their search turned up fruitless and it started getting late, Bubbles became very upset.

"B-buttercup, what if we don't find Blossom?" she cried.

"We'll find her, Bubbles, don't worry." Buttercup said. "We're just going to have to wait until morning."

With heavy hearts and worried minds, they headed back to their home. When they arrived, the first thing they noticed that was out of the ordinary, was one of the three windows to their room was half-way open. Which was strange. The two Powerpuff girls entered the room and gasped. Lying on the floor in a deep stupor and partially covered in a towel, was Blossom.

"Blossom!" Buttercup and Bubbles cried in unison.

They rushed to her side. The pink class girl was fast asleep and did not to wake up.

"Why is she all wet?" Buttercup asked. "And where did this towel come from?"

"Blossom, wake up!" Bubbles cried.

"...Ermm...wha?" Blossom dazedly mumbled.

"_WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN_?" Buttercup exclaimed. "_WE WERE WORRIED SICK_!"

"Mmmmmm...not so loud...Buttercup. ~cough cough~ Ughhh...I don't feel so good..."

"No wonder! You're soaked!"

"Oh...man...I hope I'm not coming down with anything."

Buttercup pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Let's get her into bed, Bubbles." the lime clad girl told her baby-blue clad sister.

"Okay." Bubbles replied.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, Blossom awoke with the flu. She had such a headache, she was sensitive to sound and light. Professor Utonium came in and inspected the Powerpuff leader.

"I'm afraid you have a fever, Blossom." he said. "You'll have to stay home today."

"Awww. But I _can't_ miss school." Blossom protested.

"Don't worry Blossom, I'm sure you won't miss anything." Bubbles said, trying to cheer her sister up.

Buttercup had her arms folded and was staring sternly at her red headed sister.

"Well, you two run along now." Professor Utonium told Buttercup and Bubbles. "I'll be keeping an eye on Blossom."

Which only made Buttercup feel uncomfortable about leaving the two of them alone.

"Okay, Professor!" Bubbles chirped. "Hope you feel better, Blossom."

And on that note both she and her lime clad sister left for Pokey Oaks. Blossom moaned and coughed a little more.

"I'll get you some cough medicine, honey." Professor Utonium said, getting up to leave.

Blossom let out another moan and burrowed into the sheets and blankets of her bed.

XXXXXXX

Brick was cruising around the city with his brothers. He felt really bored and wondered what his pink clad rival was up to.

"Hey!" Butch cried out. "Check it out, that guy over there is loading candy!"

The raven haired boy pointed towards a grocery store employee bringing in boxes of assorted candies and sweets onto the loading dock of the store.

"Let's rip the candy off of him!" Boomer cried.

"Yeah!" Butch loudly agreed.

The two Rowdyruff Boys flew off to terrorize the unsuspecting man. Brick remained behind. He wasn't the least bit interested in scoring candy from a market loader. For some reason, he felt compelled to go see Blossom. Finally, the red clad boy ditched his brothers again and flew off to Pokey Oaks. When he arrived, Brick peered into one of the school building's windows. To his surprise, Blossom was not amongst her sisters.

'Where the heck is she at?' he wondered.

The only place the Powerpuff leader could be was at her house. So off he went. Sure enough, he saw Blossom curled up in her bed with a small pile of tissues on one side of the bed. He also saw her raise her head a little to cough.

'Is she sick?' Brick asked himself.

Throwing caution to the wind, he forced the window open and flew in. Blossom naturally shot her head up and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Wha-what do you think you're doing here?" she cried.

"Pipe down!" Brick snapped with a soft voice.

Blossom held the blanket tight around her, not wanting the red clad boy to see her in her nighties.

"What if the Professor sees you?" she rasped.

Brick raised an eyebrow.

"You better hope he doesn't." he threatened. "Because if he does, I'll pound him!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Blossom cried, aghast.

The Rowdyruff leader just smiled.

"Like I said..." he sneered.

Blossom let out a moan. She would have to put with him again, and hope dearly that the Professor didn't come up to her room. Brick flew up to her bed and sat in a cross-legged position across from her.

"So...you sick?" Brick asked.

"Yeah, and it's your fault.." Blossom muttered as she flopped down onto her pillow.

"How's it _my_ fault?"

"Because you made me fall into the lake, stupid."

"Well, _excuse_ me! If you'd stayed put like a good little girl instead of flyin' off, I wouldn't have to do that!"

Blossom let out a frustrated sigh. And then a cough. She never felt so exasperated in her life. It made her body ache all the more.

"Will you please just go away, Brick." Blossom pleaded with a raspy voice. "I really don't feel good right now."

"I ain't going nowhere, missy." Brick said in a direct tone.

Blossom let out another moan and turned away from him. Brick noticed that she wasn't wearing her bow nor her hair clip.

'Ya know,' he thought. 'she looks kinda cool with her hair down...'

Blossom was getting increasingly unnerved with the red clad boy staring lowly at her. Suddenly, she had a bout of the shivers. The pink clad girl wrapped her blanket tighter around her as she started to feel icy cold. Brick eyed her curiously.

"What the heck is wrong with ya, now?" he ranted.

"I-it's s-s-so c-cold." Blossom stammered.

"Whaddya mean it's _cold_? It's like 80 degrees outside!"

Blossom didn't answer. Her teeth chattered as she burrowed further into herbed to warm up. The Powerpuff leader felt as if she were inside a thick igloo with little or no clothes on. Something deep inside Brick didn't like seeing her like this. He didn't know what it was, nor did he care. Suddenly, Blossom then felt a pair of arms gently wrap around her shaking form. She turned her head and saw Brick pulling her against his chest and wrapping himself around her.

"H-hey!" the pink clad girl cried. "What a-are you d-doing?"

"Shuddup!" Brick snapped.

He continued to pull her close while the Powerpuff began to feel extremely uncomfortable and tried squirming away. But Brick did not let go. Blossom then realized that he was supplying his own body heat to help her warm up. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever consider him capable of such things. Still, Blossom did not feel comfortable with Brick being this close to her.

"Aren't you afraid that you'll catch my 'girlie germs'?" Blossom pointed out.

Brick merely shrugged.

"Well, I don't know." he said in a low voice. "Maybe Him gave me a booster shot for that too."

And thank goodness that he had. Otherwise, Brick would never be able to savor this moment. Blossom continued to shiver in his hold and moaning lightly at the achiness in her body. All the stress was going to her head and tiring her out. But the pink clad girl couldn't just fall asleep with Brick right next to her. What made her equally worried was the possibility of the Professor walking in on them. Brick started to notice Blossom stressing out.

"You need to chill, Red." he told her.

"Easy for you to say..." Blossom muttered.

There was more silence. Then Brick started to rub her back. Blossom couldn't help but feel more relaxed than she had been earlier. She didn't like him rubbing his hands up and down on her but it felt sooo good.

"Brick..." Blossom rasped. "..that feels...kinda nice..."

The red clad boy couldn't help but smirk and beam with pride.

"Like I said," he replied smugly. "you just need to chill."

Blossom didn't answer, which caught Brick's attention.

"Red? Hey Red!"

Still no answer. Then upon further inspection, he found that he had put Blossom to sleep. His raging crimson eyes unintentionally softened at this sight. She looked kind of peaceful like this, perhaps maybe tranquil. Brick found himself liking every bit of this and also finding an emotion growing inside him. He didn't know what that emotion was and didn't know whether to welcome it or feel disturbed by it. Finally, he decided to shrug it off as nothing.


	10. Cat and Mouse

**AN: I recently found out that the teacher's name is spelled Keane and not Keene xP Sorry for the error.**

* * *

><p>-Chapter 10: Cat and Mouse-<p>

Later that day, school let out and Buttercup and Bubbles were heading back home with backpacks heavy with homework not just for themselves, for Blossom as well. Buttercup was a little irate at having to carry more stuff than she usually had to. They arrived at their home and were warmly greeted by the Professor.

"Hello, girls. How was school?"

"Fine. Same old, same old." Buttercup yammered. "We have a permission slip for you tho."

The raven haired girl handed the scientist a sheet of paper.

"Hmmm, I see." Utonium said after reading. "Well, I'll sign it a little later and you can turn it into your teacher tomorrow."

Both Buttercup and Bubbles nodded in reply.

"How's Blossom?" Bubbles asked. "Is she feeling better?"

"She might be." the Professor replied. "I gave her some cough medicine a little while ago. I think she's asleep right now."

XXXXXXX

Before the two Powerpuff sisters had even reached their house, Brick, who fallen asleep along with Blossom, had suddenly became aware of their presence. His enhanced super hearing picked up on the girls like a radar. Not wanting to get into a confrontation with them, he quietly got out of their bed and flew towards the window. The red clad boy took one last look at a still sleeping Blossom before taking off. A few minutes later, Buttercup and Bubbles quietly entered and found Blossom in deep slumber.

"Should we wake her?" Bubbles whispered.

"Nah," Buttercup replied quietly. "we'll come back in later."

With a nod from her blonde-haired sister, they left the room silently and leaving Blossom in peace.

XXXXXXX

A few hours later, Blossom slowly awoke from her long nap. The sun outside was just beginning to set. A dazed Blossom looked around. The first thing she noticed was that Brick was absent. The red head girl wondered if he had left or if she dreamt his whole presence. The whole room was very dim from the lack of sunlight.

'How long was I out?' Blossom wondered.

She climbed out of bed and wandered out into the hall. Blossom then found her sisters on the couch watching TV in the living room. They noticed her when she entered.

"Hey, you're up." Buttercup said.

"How are you feeling?" Bubbles asked.

"A little better I guess." Blossom muttered.

In truth, Blossom felt like goo. She joined her sisters on the couch. Buttercup had commented to herself how her pink clad sister looked like a mess. But not a word was said among them. They silently sat and watched their television set. Unaware that they were being watched by Brick.

XXXXXXX

The next day, Blossom was well enough to return to school. Bubbles turned in the sheet that was sent home the day before bearing the Professor's signature as well as other students with their parent's signatures. Everyone took their seat before Ms. Keane began the class.

"Good morning, everyone." Ms. Keane greeted.

"Good morning, Ms. Keane." the class greeted back.

"Now before I begin today's lesson, I want to discuss the permission slips I gave you yesterday. With your parent's okay, I can teach you a very important lesson about bullying and harassment."

The students blinked and leaned forward in their seats.

"You see class," Ms. Keane continued. "bullying and harassment are very bad things. If someone is physically harming or threatening you, it's very important you tell an adult or someone you trust immediately."

While she was discussing this serious topic, Blossom sank into her chair. Everything the teacher said was exactly what was going on between her and Brick. Hearing Ms. Keane talk about the details made Blossom feel sick to her stomach and sink deeper into her chair. It also prompted Buttercup to narrow her lime colored eyes at her. Although what Ms. Keane was saying about telling an adult about being harassed, Blossom simply didn't have the gut nor the will to say a thing. She stared at the table she and her sisters sat at silently. Blossom was a complete war with herself. Torn between doing the right thing and speak up, or keeping silent. But what would happen if she did say something? Would Brick retaliate by hurting someone close to her? Sure Buttercup and Bubbles could take him, but what about the Professor or Ms. Keane? Or the whole town for that matter? Blossom just couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to say anything about her and Brick. Even as her sisters were practically staring at her down and desperately wishing that she say something. Anything.

Later that day, when the Powerpuff Girls were at home, Blossom decided that she needed to get out of the house for some fresh air and to clear her head. When she took off into the air, Buttercup secretly followed her. The lime clad girl wanted to know what her sister was up to, if anything. Blossom wasn't sure where exactly she wanted to go. She flew aimlessly around, unaware that her raven haired sister was tracking her every move. Buttercup saw Blossom move along a bit further until they were both alerted to the cries of another citizen.

"Hey, stop that!"

"Ehh, shuddup!"

It was the Rowdyruff Boys. Or rather two of them. Butch and Boomer were wreaking a vending machine, trying to get soda out of it when a cop came along. Buttercup only turned her back for a brief second when she found that Blossom had vanished without a trace.

'Shoot!' Buttercup cried to herself. 'Where the heck did she get to?'

XXXXXXX

Blossom had flown almost at the speed of light. Even though she should have stopped Butch and Boomer from defacing public property, she did not want to get caught by Brick. She stopped at the docks where there was a most beautiful sunset one had ever seen. Blossom sat on the wharf gasping for breath and completely ashamed of herself for ignoring a cry for help. Now this whole deal with Brick was starting to become a problem and interfering with her superhero work. But she felt helpless without her sisters with her.

'I need to get ahold of myself and not worry so much about Brick.' the pink clad girl thought. 'I'm letting this get to a point where I can't even protect Townsville anymore. And that's something I can't allow.'

Telling herself not to worry was absolutely useless. If Brick were to approach her at this very second, Blossom would freeze up and try to flee from him.

_'You can't face him...'_ said a little voice in Blossom's head. _'You're too scared of him...'_

'...but, why?'

Blossom flew away from the wharf and towards the town itself. She suddenly came across the Gangreen Gang trashing an arcade center. Smashing and damaging video and table game sets, and if that wasn't enough, they were also stealing the quarters that came spewing out of the destroyed cabinets.

"Hey!" Blossom shouted. "You're asking for trouble!"

The gang spotted her and instantly froze in horror. But Ace saw that she was by herself and found this to be amusing.

"Well, well, what's this?" he asked in a smooth voice. "Blossom all alone without her sisters?"

Blossom's anger ran high. She was NOT in the mood to be at the butt of Ace's jokes. The red head girl launched herself at him and gave the Gangreen leader one hell of a pummeling. She practically beat the shit out of him. Then she was punched by Grubber and then Lil' Arturo. Soon the whole gang was upon her, beating her to the ground. Blossom tried to overcome them, but they were just too much for her. Suddenly, the whole group was lifted off of her. Confused and a little dazed, the pink clad looked up and was aghast by what she saw. Brick was now beating the hell out of the Gangreen Gang. Only he didn't hold back for anything. In fact, he looked really pissed. When the others were out of the way, the red clad boy went after Ace. He showed the gang leader absolutely no mercy.

"_**IF-YOU-EVER-TOUCH-HER-!**_" Brick rasped in between punches.

Blossom was quick to intervene. If Brick continued, Ace could die from the blows.

"Brick...STOP!" she cried, trying to pull the Rowdyruff away.

"BACK OFF, RED!" Brick snapped.

He swatted at her with a wave of an arm. Blossom flew a foot away from her previous position. Before Brick could continue his beating, the gang started to take off for dear life.

"YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!" the red clad boy shouted.

Blossom could not believe what she was seeing. She never witnessed Brick so violent before. He was worse than Butch for heaven's sake. The Powerpuff leader quickly attempted to flee the scene herself before Brick notice. But of course, he did anyway.

"Where do you think you're going, Red?"

Without a word, Blossom flew off, almost at the speed of light. Brick promptly went after her. Within seconds, he snatched her in his arms. But the intensity of their flight had caused Brick to become winded and falter towards the ground. In a split second, the red head boy swerved around and he and Blossom crashed into the ground. A minute later, Blossom emerged from a small crater that was created, coughing from the dust cloud. She saw that Brick landed on his back to spare her from getting hurt in the impact. The pink clad girl also saw that her counterpart was knocked unconscious. It would have been wise to get back home now, but for some reason, she couldn't leave him as he was. Even though she tried to. Letting out a huge sigh, Blossom pulled a stupored Brick out of the crater and put his arm around her shoulders to carry him towards a nearby tree. The red head girl sat against the trunk and gently placed Brick's head on her lap. He was a complete mess. Dirt and soot covered his clothes and his face. Blossom let out another sigh. She had no idea why she was doing this. If Buttercup and Bubbles saw her, they would flip. Especially Buttercup. The worst part would be that Brick would got involved if he awakened and the other girls managed to come across them. About 30 minutes of waiting, Brick finally regained consciousness. He looked around in a blurred daze. Then, he saw Blossom's face looking solemnly down on him.

"Jeez Red, you look like someone took away your powers or something." the Rowdyruff leader quipped.

"I can see you're feeling better." Blossom said in an accusing tone. "Anyway, thanks for the help back there..."

The red clad boy sneered with a smile.

"Really?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "From what I gathered, you weren't all up with that."

Blossom let out a groan. When she opened her eyes she saw Brick staring amorously at her.

"Will you stop looking at me like that?" she cried.

"Why not?" Brick asked in a sly voice.

The pink clad girl let out a huff. She looked down again at her rival. Something in Brick's furious crimson eyes captured her in a spell. Blossom tried to break away but the Rowdyruff's hold was like iron. Then, something happened. He didn't know what compelled him to do it, but Brick slowly raised his arms and gently took ahold of her face. Then he brought it down and kissed her. Blossom gasped but slowly closed her eyes as the embrace became deep. Silence followed for what seemed to be a very long time. Then, suddenly, Blossom regained her senses and smacked Brick away.

"You...YOU JERK!" she cried disgusted.

Brick just smiled smugly at her. Finally, the pink clad girl had enough of him and started to fly away. She was greatly appalled by what just happened. Before she was high in the air, Brick caught and held her by her foot.

"H-hey, let go!" Blossom cried.

"Did I say you could go anywhere?" Brick asked with a raised eyebrow and one hand on his hip.

Blossom tried to fly away again but her rival held her in place. Finally, the Powerpuff leader got away when she zipped away and Brick plopped down on his fanny with Blossom's shoe in his hand. After a second, he grinned deviously.

XXXXXXX

Blossom raced back home as fast as she could. On the way there, she ran into Buttercup. Literally. Blossom at this point was hyperventilating.

"Whoa, Bloss!" the lime clad girl cried. "Calm down!"

The red head Powerpuff took deep breaths to pull herself together.

"S-sorry about that." Blossom rasped.

"Are you okay? I went looking for when you suddenly disappeared...from home." Buttercup said.

"I'm alright."

"What happened to your shoe?"

"...I lost it."

Buttercup gave her sister a confused look, but decided not to go on about it.

"Come on, let's go home." she said.

Blossom, feeling totally relieved, was more than happy to oblige.


	11. Pressure

-Chapter 11: Pressure-

A triumphant Brick went back to his and his brothers' hangout, still having Blossom's shoe in his possession. He had decided to keep it as a trophy or a keepsake. While Boomer went off to do some graffiti on a nearby wall, Butch eyed his red clad brother with confusion and curiosity.

"What the heck is that?" the raven haired boy asked while pointing to the item in his brother's hand.

"Gee, I don't know, Butch." Brick replied in a sarcastic tone while raising an eyebrow and narrowing his eyes. "What do you think it is?"

Butch folded his arms and gave an unappreciative look.

"It kinda looks like one of those stupid girls' shoes." he said.

"Very good, bro." Brick replied nonchalantly.

Butch let out a cry of frustration.

"ARRRGGHHH! WHAT GIVES?" the green clad boy exclaimed. "You disappear somewhere, and don't come back till late, and now you come back with a stupid girlie shoe!"

Brick merely raised an eyebrow at his brother's ranting.

"What are you, my mother?" he asked.

"No, but what if HIM finds out?" Butch pointed out.

"What about 'em?"

"Well, if he doesn't like what you're doin', we could in trouble!"

Brick got up from the tire he was sitting back in.

"First of all," he began. "I don't care about what HIM thinks, it's none of his business. Second, are you gonna squeal on me like a lil' baby?"

The two boys exchanged death glares. Sensing trouble, Boomer tried to break it up.

"Awww, come on you guys." the blue clad boy protested. "Maybe if Brick tells us, we'll keep it a secret. And Brick's right, we don't have to tell HIM _everything_. And what he doesn't know, won't hurt him right?"

Brick and Butch exchanged aggressive glances again, then finally relented.

"...Fine." Brick agreed. "But we make a pact. A squealer who rats to HIM or anybody else, is gonna get 100 wet willies and an atomic wedgie!"

Boomer shuddered, even Butch. There was nothing more horrifying nor humiliating than that. They both nodded, spat into their hands along with Brick, and shook hands in agreement.

"Alright then," Brick began. "I kinda found a way to wrap one of them Powerpuff's around my finger."

Both Boomer and Butch blinked.

"Whaddya mean?" Boomer asked.

"You know how that Blossom chick has been acting weird around us lately?" Brick asked in reply.

"A little bit." Butch answered while scratching the back his head. "I never really noticed."

Brick let out a little sigh. Leave it to his brothers to be nonobservant.

"Anyway," Brick continued. "I got the leader girl around my finger, and now she's my lab rat."

Boomer perked up.

"A lab rat? You mean like where those guys in white suits do all sorts of crazy stuff to 'em?" the blonde haired boy asked.

"Something like that.." Brick replied.

"That's cool!"

Butch still didn't follow.

"I'm not getting it." he said with his arms folded.

"Then I'll show you, bro." Brick said while putting an arm around the raven haired boy's shoulder. "Let's go attack Townsville like usual so we can get those babies to pop out of their little gopher holes, and just follow my lead from there."

"Well...okay."

Butch didn't quite understand what his brother was trying to prove. And quite honestly, he didn't really give a damn. As long as he was causing the Powerpuff leader some form of trouble, Butch was pretty much satisfied. And that's exactly what Brick wanted in the first place. To have his brothers believe he was harming Blossom and leave it at that, which he was doing for a fact. Maybe not physically, but definitely psychologically.

XXXXXXX

Blossom was paranoid all day. Her previous misadventure with Brick left her with more fears and another disturbing nightmare. Now, she stuck to her sisters' sides like glue. She went wherever they went. Blossom did not want to be by herself anymore, lest she get picked off by Brick again. The pink clad girl kept looking around and probing for his presence. It was starting to drive Buttercup crazy.

"Dang, Blossom. Would you stop tailing me around like a lost puppy?" she cried, although she was quite one to talk. "Go read one of your books or something!"

"I don't feel like reading right now." Blossom solemnly replied.

Before the argument could go any further, the Powerpuff Hotline rang out. Buttercup let out a huff and went to answer it.

"What is it, mayor?" the lime clad girl asked, trying to sound polite.

"Buttercup, it's the Rowdyruff Boys. They're tearing the city apart!" the mayor cried.

Buttercup raised an eyebrow and cast a glance at Blossom.

"We'll get right on it, Mayor." the raven haired girl replied into the phone.

She put the phone down and was joined by Blossom and Bubbles.

"It's the boys again." Buttercup told them.

While Blossom gave a complete look of dread and horror, Bubbles looked annoyed.

"_AGAIN?_" the baby-blue clad girl cried. "What are they doing now?"

"Being a pain in the butt that's what."

"Right! Lets go get 'em." Blossom blurted out, trying to sound like her normal self.

Without another word, they flew off towards the city. They went as fast as the wind could carry them. When they reached their destination, the local park was already in shambles. A debris field led them to an electronic store. The Rowdyruff Boys were either testing out the products and maxing out their capacity, or breaking them into tiny little bits. Blossom felt extremely unnerved and almost sick to her stomach to be there in the first place. When the girls entered, the boys leered at them.

"Well, look who's here!" Brick sneered.

"Yeah, wanna fight?" Butch piped in.

"Gladly!" Buttercup exclaimed.

The boys charged at them. Then they got out into the city outside and unleashed at each other. Once again, Blossom went against Butch and not Brick, which further proved the red clad boy's point to his brother.

'Hmm, maybe Brick is right. Leader girl _is_ acting weird!' Butch thought.

The fight got more and more intense. Then the boys pummeled the girls into the ground, forming a crater in the process and flew up, laughing at their handiwork.

"Alright, boys." Brick whispered to his brothers. "Let's do this like we planned."

Butch and Boomer nodded. When the Powerpuff team surfaced from the crater, the Rowdyruff team took off in different directions.

"Let's go, girls!" Blossom cried.

They went after the boys, in the directions that they went. It had become a game of hide and go seek. Each Powerpuff flew around cautiously scanning the area for the Rowdyruffs. Blossom was trying to stay a little close to one of her sisters as much as she could. But then, she caught Butch's outline turn sharply and quickly into a corner. Narrowing her pink eyes, she followed him. Next thing the red headed girl realized, she was in a dead end alley and no Butch. Blossom made a stupid move.

"Hey there, Red."

A really stupid move.

Blossom reluctantly turned around, shuddering at the sound of his voice and found Brick leaning up against the wall.

"Wait a minute, where's-?" she rasped.

"Where's what, Red?" Brick snapped.

The pink clad girl got riled up.

"Look Brick," she said, trying to sound tough. "I'm not gonna play this game anymore."

Brick raised an eyebrow.

"Who said this was a game?" he asked in a low and malicious voice.

Blossom shuddered and her heart rate went skyrocketing. Somehow, the red clad boy was just able to get under her skin. Nearby, Boomer and Butch were watching from a safe distance. They were absolutely amazed at Brick's performance. Butch was struck to see how terrified Blossom was of his brother. He had never seen her react that way before. Ever. The pink clad girl took one step back and took off in a hurry. But Brick didn't go after her this time. he just simply watched her leave with an evil grin. Both Boomer and Butch came out of their hiding spots and flew over to Brick.

"Wow, Brick! That was awesome!" Boomer cried.

"I gotta admit, that was pretty hard core, dude." Butch said.

"Good. Now then," Brick began as he suddenly grabbed both of his brother's into a neck hold with his arms. "I wanna make this to both of ya, Blossom's imy/i lab rat. You make a move on her, and I'll get crazy. And you don't want me to get crazy..."

The red clad boy squeezed his arms around his brothers' necks to make his words good and clear.

"Okay, okay!" Butch exclaimed. "Jeez!"

"Good." Brick said, satisfied. "Now then, lets go whup those babies!"

"Yeah!" Boomer cried.

With that, they zipped away. Meanwhile, Blossom was in a frantic search for her sisters. She felt very ill. Not just to her stomach, but everywhere else. The pink clad girl's mind was going practically haywire, which fueled the fire in her belly. Blossom could feel her lunch coming forcibly back up. She stopped in mid-flight with her hands cupped over her mouth and her form shaking like a leaf. Blossom flew down and went towards a nearby trash can and let out the contents of her stomach. As she did, Buttercup and Bubbles discovered their stricken sister while searching for the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Blossom?" Buttercup called out. "Are you-are you okay?"

"Nuh...no.." Blossom rasped before gagging and puking her guts out again.

Her concerned sisters went to her side as she unloaded into the trash can. Buttercup rubbed the Powerpuff leader's back as she exchanged a worried glance with Bubbles.

"We need to get her home." the lime clad girl said in a low voice.

Although Buttercup wanted to continue the throw down with the Rowdyruffs, Blossom could fight in her condition and that left them outnumbered two to three.

"But what about the boys?" Bubbles asked.

"We'll have to worry about them later!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Oh really? Why not now?"

The two Powerpuff sisters turned around and saw their male counterparts hovering over them. Brick was a little struck to see Blossom throwing up, but quickly wiped the concerned look off his face. Buttercup quickly scooped up her ill sister after she finished vomiting.

"Look, as much as I wanna pound you all, that's gonna have to wait!" Buttercup snarled in an irate tone.

Seconds later, the Powerpuff Girls took off into the air. Brick smirked in triumph as folded his arms.

"Let 'em go." he said. "I think we've had our victory."

Then the red clad boy and his brother's chuckles and snickered devilishly.


	12. Spiraling Out of Control

-Chapter 12: Spiraling Out of Control-

Buttercup and Bubbles rushed their stricken sister home. Blossom was feeling quite horrible. Her stomach felt as if it were turned inside out and back again. When they got back to their house, Bubbles found a note from the Professor saying that he had gone out to pick up more lab supplies and that he would be back soon. Buttercup carried Blossom into their room and put her in bed. The red-headed girl was moaning from spilling her guts. Literally.

"Are you okay?" Buttercup asked. "You want a glass of water or something?"

"Ice water sounds good." Blossom muttered.

"Alright, ice water coming right up."

Blossom let out a heaving sigh. Her stomach was upset after its contents were forced up through her throat. The pink clad girl felt absolutely terrible. She thought about all that had happened. And Blossom honestly had no idea what to do about it. Part of her now wanted to tell Buttercup and Bubbles about what was going on between her and Brick. The other part was afraid of the consequences and whatever backlash may come out of that. But things were getting out of hand as it was, so why not tell someone before things get _really_ out of hand? Buttercup came back a few minutes later with a glass of water with ice in it.

"Here you go, Bloss." the lime clad girl said, handing her sister the glass.

"Thanks." Blossom replied.

She took a sip of the cool liquid which settled her stomach a little as Buttercup watched. Bubbles then came floating in.

"Are you okay now, Blossom?" the baby-blue clad girl asked.

"A little bit." Blossom murmured.

Buttercup folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Is there _anything else_ you wanna to tell us?" she asked in slight accusing tone.

Blossom stared into the glass in her hands and thought for a moment.

"No, not really." she meekly replied. "I just...I just got sick."

Buttercup let out a light sigh of exasperation. Bubbles joined her red-headed sister on the bed.

"Something you ate?" the blonde haired girl asked.

"...Maybe." Blossom muttered.

'Is it just me, or is Blossom getting more pathetic by the minute?' Buttercup thought.

Then, they all heard a noise from down stairs.

"Girls? I'm home!"

It was the Professor. He had returned from the supply store. Bubbles was the first to zip out of the room and greet him. Buttercup turned back to Blossom.

"Do you want me to tell him what happened?" Buttercup asked.

"I'd rather not," Blossom replied. "but I don't wanna lie..."

"Oh _really?_"

Blossom let out a groan. She didn't want Utonium to worry either.

"I'll tell him." the pink clad girl murmured.

She got out of bed and flew down stairs. She saw Bubbles follow the Professor into his lab and went over to join them.

"Oh, hello Blossom." Utonium greeted.

"Hi, Professor." Blossom greeted back. There's something...I gotta tell you."

That grabbed the scientist's attention.

"Oh? What is it?" he asked.

"I kind of...threw up..today." Blossom reluctantly explained while rubbing her rub.

"You did? Why?"

"I...I don't know. It...must have been something that I ate."

While the Professor began examining the Powerpuff leader, Buttercup was watching with a look of disbelief and disgust on her face. She was really hoping that her pink clad sister would finally fess up to what was bothering her. But the raven haired girl's hope was for naught.

"Am I gonna have to beat it out of her, or what?' she thought.

XXXXXXX

A half hour later, Brick flew around the city and into the suburbs. He approached the Powerpuff household carefully. Peering into the windows, he saw both Buttercup and Bubbles sitting on the couch and watching TV. Buttercup looked sort of irate and seemed to be more deep in thought rather than actually watching the television set, so the red clad boy would have to be careful. The Professor was in the kitchen looking at an instruction sheet on how to put together the latest apparatus he purchased while smoking his pipe. Which meant that Blossom was alone in her room.

Perfect.

Brick flew up to the round windows and sure enough, he found his target sound asleep on her bed. He forced one of the windows halfway open and flew in. The red clad boy then went over to his rival's bed and climbed onto it.

"Hey, Red." he whispered while shaking the Powerpuff leader's shoulder. "Wake up..."

Blossom fluttered her pink eyes open and groaned. Her stomach was still upset from earlier. She turned her face and saw Brick looming over her. The pink clad girl almost screamed if Brick hadn't quickly covered her mouth.

"You know, we need to work on your screeching." he snapped quietly.

"What are you doing here?" Blossom cried.

"I came to see if you were still barfin'."

Blossom made a face.

"Well I'm happy to disappoint." she said with slight smugness.

"Actually, you're not." Brick countered. "Anyway, I wanted to bring you this."

He presented the red headed girl a bottle of a lemon-lime flavored sports drink.

"You didn't steal that too, did you?" Blossom asked suspiciously.

"Oh yes, Red. I jacked it from one of them vending machines." Brick said sarcastically.

Blossom glared at her male counterpart.

"I'm not taking that if you stole it." she said folding her arms.

"Whatever." Brick replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I only brought it so it could help with your gut ache."

Blossom stared at the red clad boy. She was honestly surprised at how he was showing some concern over her well-being. It almost made Blossom feel touched. But Brick was a Rowdyruff. The enemy. She shouldn't be even speaking to him right now.

"Well thanks, but no thanks." the pink clad girl said. "Now if you don't mind, would you _please_ leave?"

Brick made a slightly insulted look on his face.

"Yes, I do mind, actually." he said setting the sports drink bottle down and then crawled over to his female counterpart.

"Now wait a minute, Brick." Blossom protested.

She started to crawl backwards to get away but the Rowdyruff persisted.

"Come on!" Blossom cried.

As she tried to get away from an advancing Brick, Blossom did not realize that she had reached the edge of the bed. When she put one hand down again, it touched air instead of blanket and mattress, which caused her to lose her balance. Before the pink clad girl could fall over, Brick caught her. Their faces were nearly close enough to touch. Heat and scarlet flooded into Blossom's cheeks. Brick's as well, only slightly however.

"Blossom? Are you okay up there?"

"It's Buttercup!" the red headed girl quietly cried.

Before Brick could reply, Blossom shoved him off the bed and pushed him under it in record time.

"Hey! What do you think you are-?" Brick protested.

"Just stay there, and keep quiet!" Blossom hissed.

She got back on the bed and tried to look normal. Then her raven haired sister entered the room.

"Everything okay?" Buttercup asked.

"Y-yes." Blossom stammered nervously. "I was uh, having trouble in the bathroom."

Buttercup raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

"You didn't throw up again, did you?" she asked.

"No." Blossom replied.

The lime clad girl let out a huff and floated into the bathroom. Blossom suddenly noticed the sports drink on the nightstand and quickly hid it beneath her pillow before Buttercup would notice. Meanwhile, Brick, who was still under the bed, was feeling quite ridiculous and impatiently waiting for Blossom's sister to leave. Buttercup came floating back into room.

"Just what did you have trouble with?" she inquired.

"Ummm, replacing the toilet paper!" Blossom quickly replied.

Buttercup raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the bathroom.

"Well...alright." she said. "I just wanted to see if you were doing okay."

"I'm alright." Blossom said softly.

"I'll be right back."

The raven clad girl left the room. Then a few minutes later, Brick came out from underneath the bed.

"Jeez, I thought she never leave!" he complained.

"Brick, would _please_ just go now?" Blossom rasped.

"No. I'm not done with ya yet. And I'll leave when I want to."

Blossom made a sad face.

"Come on, Brick." she pleaded. "I can't keep doing this all the time."

"Why not?" the red clad boy countered. "You don't seem to mind saving Townsville all the time."

"That's different!"

"Really?" I don't see it that way."

Blossom let out a frustrated sigh. Not knowing that the Rowdyruff was silently creeping up to her. When she looked up again she suddenly saw Brick up close to her and with a sly look on his face.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Blossom cried.

"Oh, put a sock in it, Red." Brick ranted softly.

Then he placed both hands on her waist and pulled her towards him. Blossom gasped when she felt Brick's lips brush up against her own. Like before, she melted in his embrace. Unlike before, Blossom did not push him away. When they parted, the Powerpuff had a dazed look on her face to which Brick smiled deviously at.

"I'll see you later, _Blossom._" the red clad boy whispered.


	13. Confessions

-Chapter 13: Confessions-

When Buttercup returned to the bedroom, she found Blossom alone and in a daze.

"Uhhh...Blossom?" Buttercup called out. "Are you okay?"

The pink clad girl snapped out of her daze.

"Yes!" she cried. "I'm fine!"

Blossom covered her mouth in embarrassment from her sudden outburst. Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you blushing so hard?" the raven haired girl asked.

"I'm-I'm not blushing." Blossom protested.

"Yeah you are, you're as red as a tomato!"

Blossom let out a frustrated moan. She didn't want to tell her sister what just happened and who she was just with. Instead of pushing the subject, Buttercup flew over to her red headed sister and felt her forehead.

"You're not burning up again, are you?" Buttercup asked.

"No...I don't think so." Blossom murmured.

Now the Powerpuff leader felt really rotten for making her family worry. It was bad enough that she was lying about Brick.

XXXXXXX

For the rest of the week, Blossom was extremely paranoid of when and where Brick would strike next. Lately, her nightmares had ceased for a short while which allowed her to get some much needed rest. That in turn, made the Powerpuff leader nearly forget that she had a problem. But just when she thought the nightmares had stopped, they began again. This time, the poor girl was having them every single night, each being much worse than the last. Now, Blossom was starting to become a mere shadow of what she once was. In order to stay on top of her grades, the red headed girl had to study during her free hours. The only time she ever got to rest, was at night. But even then she only got three or four hours of sleep. Blossom's performance during super hero work began to falter although she did sometimes successfully compensated for it. The pink clad girl was a wreck. She constantly worried about Brick coming after her and had no idea when and where.

XXXXXXX

It was now a bright and sunny Friday. The girls got back home from school and Buttercup and Bubbles became very animated on how they would spend their weekend. Blossom was considering hibernating throughout the entire weekend. They had no homework or any tests on the Monday after, so Blossom didn't have to worry about school work. About an hour after arriving home, the Powerpuff Hotline rang. Blossom answered it this time.

"Hello, Mayor." she said in a monotone voice. "What is it?"

"Oh, um, Blossom." the mayor said in a little begging tone. "I'm uh, having trouble with this blasted pickle jar. Can you girls come over and uh, help me?"

"Sure, Mayor."

Blossom went over to her sisters who were planning to order a pizza.

"The mayor needs to have a pickle jar opened." she told them.

"Again?" Buttercup groaned.

The pink clad girl nodded and the trio flew towards the mayor's office in record time.

"Oh, girls!" he cried happily. "So good of you to come!"

Also there, was Ms. Bellum. She noticed that there was something amiss with Blossom as she opened the jar of pickles for the mayor.

"Oh thank you, Blossom!" the mayor said in sheer gratitude.

The Powerpuff leader gave a small smile.

"Don't mention it, Mayor." she replied. Then she turned to her sisters. "Let's go, girls."

"Blossom, wait." Ms. Bellum intervened. "Could you stay here for just a moment? I'd like to ask you something if you don't mind."

"Not at all."

Blossom made eye contact with her sisters, and they left the building. Then the pink clad girl turned back to the mayor's secretary.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, is everything alright?" Ms. Bellum asked.

Blossom was caught off guard.

"Uh...why yes!" she stammered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you have dark circles under your eyes and you look a little stressed out about something. Are you sure everything is alright?"

Blossom thought hard. Not everything was alright. But she couldn't tell Ms. Bellum anything. The Powerpuff leader felt she would be putting the secretary in potential danger.

"Everything's okay, Ms. Bellum." Blossom said with a false smile. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" the older woman asked.

"Yes, of course."

"Well, alright, if you insist."

With that, Blossom took her leave. When she was outside the Townsville Hall, the pink clad girl let out a very big sigh. Why did she have to keep lying like this? And why couldn't Brick just leave her the hell alone so she wouldn't have to lie? As she sadly floated towards her home, the Powerpuff leader was completely unaware that a shadow was following her every move.

XXXXXXX

Nearby, Buttercup and Bubbles hung around and waited for their sister. Buttercup wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her. These days, Blossom was acting quite odd and the last thing that was wanted was a huge disaster.

"I wonder what Ms. Bellum wanted with Blossom..." Bubbles said.

"Beats me." Buttercup replied with a shrug.

Another few minutes had passed with no sign of their leader.

'What's taking her?' the raven haired girl thought.

Suddenly, a piercing and terrified scream filled the silent air, making both Buttercup and Bubbles jump.

"Th-that was Blossom!" Bubbles cried.

"Come on!" Buttercup exclaimed.

The two girls raced at high speed to where their sister's screams originated. They came to an area a block away from the mayor's office. There was no sign of Blossom anywhere.

"Blossom?" Buttercup cried out. "Blossom!"

"Blossooooooom!" Bubbles piped in.

No response. A little further along, they discovered their pink clad sister's bow lying on the ground and in a small puddle. Dirt stained the red fabric of the bow. Buttercup and Bubbles flew down and the lime clad girl picked it up. The two Powerpuff sisters exchanged dire expressions.

"You...you don't think Blossom was kidnapped, do you?" Bubbles cried.

"We gotta find her. Fast!" Buttercup exclaimed.

Her baby-blue clad sister gave a nod. Truthfully, Buttercup didn't want to admit the possibility that Blossom was indeed kidnapped. All the hectic events happening with her red-head sister was driver her crazy. The two sisters began their frantic search for their leader.

XXXXXXX

Zipping towards a deeper part of the wood, was Brick. Struggling desperately in his arms trying to break free, was Blossom. Brick's hold on her was like irons. Finally, the poor Powerpuff gave up. When Brick finally landed in front of Fuzzy Lumpkin's shack, Blossom again tried to ferret out of the red clad boy's grasp.

"Will ya quit squirmin'?" Brick demanded.

Blossom let out a muffled scream and tried to punch him. The commotion she was making alerted the hot pink furry creature inside his home and he stormed out to drastically dismiss his unwanted company.

"YOU DOG GONE-GET OFF OF MY-!"

Before Lumpkins could continue his fierce ranting, he stopped dead at the sight of Brick.

"Wassaup, bub?" the Rowdyruff leader sneered with a devilish grin.

Lumpkins gave a fearful look while Blossom let out a muffled scream and gave a pleading gaze at him. But fear from his previous encounter with the red clad boy overtook the hick creature as he quickly grabbed a stick with a filled handkerchief tied on the end.

"I go now..." Lumpkins muttered.

"Very good." Brick replied smoothly

Blossom watched in total disbelief as Fuzzy skedaddled. Luck was just not in favor with her right now. Brick dragged the helpless Powerpuff leader inside and threw her in. The red headed boy slammed the door as his rival looked on him in terror.

"Brick, what are you doing?" Blossom cried.

"I feel like hangin'." Brick smugly replied. "Besides, we _really_ need to talk about your screeching."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Brick? _I can't keep doing this!_"

"You're smart. You can figure out how."

In the corner of Blossom's eye, she saw a window. A sudden opportunity to escape had presented itself. In a split second, the pink clad girl zipped towards the window. Brick quickly caught on to what she was trying to attempt.

"Oh no you don't!" he snapped.

Before Blossom even made it out the window, Brick snatched her in his arms. The Powerpuff leader struggled fiercely to escape.

"Lemme go!" Blossom cried. "Please!"

Brick didn't answer her. He continued to hold her while his arms wrapped tighter and tighter around. The red clad boy looked to his right and spotted Fuzzy Lumpkin's old springy bed and sat down on it. Finally Blossom became exhausted from fighting in Brick's hold and slumped in his arms.

"I hate you..." the red headed girl whimpered.

Brick smirked and took that as a term of endearment.

"Why, that's the nicest thing you ever said to me." he purred, nuzzling Blossom's neck and cheek.

Tears welled up in the Powerpuff's eyes. the situation was absolutely hopeless. Brick gave a surprised but interested glance at her.

"So this is what it takes to get you to cry? Cool." he sneered.

Blossom gave him a really hateful glare at him as her tears fell.

"I hate you..." she said again with more malice in her voice.

The Rowdyruff merely smiled.

"Well, I can fix that." he murmured.

He gave her a gentle peck on her lips. Blossom weakly punched his shoulders and tried to pull away. Brick kept her in place and then he pushed her slowly down. The pink clad girl's heart rate went sky rocketing. This was just like what had happened in her nightmares. She tried to push Brick away again in a more desperate manner. But the red clad boy's persistence made her melt inside. The warmth emitting from him felt so good. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get away. Which scared Blossom even more.

XXXXXXX

It was now past midnight. Buttercup and Bubbles were still in a frantic search for their sister. It turned up fruitless and six and a half hours of flying around trying to locate Blossom, left the two girls absolutely exhausted. With great reluctance, Buttercup decided to call it quits for the night.

"Come on, Bubbles. Let's go home." the lime clad girl said softly.

"_NO!_ We _have_ to find Blossom!" Bubbles cried.

"I know, Bubbles. I don't wanna give up on her either, but it's really late. We'll just have to come back in the morning, okay?"

Tears filled the baby-blue clad girl's eyes. Buttercup took and held her hand.

"I'm worried about her too." she said softly.

Then, after a few minutes, the two girls flew back home, defeated. What a way to begin a promising weekend.

XXXXXXX

The night wore on uneventfully. Blossom was still trapped with Brick. She was stuck inside Fuzzy Lumpkin's shack for the duration of the six hour nocturnal period. Brick had fallen asleep during their stay there. He had his arms wrapped securely around the pink clad girl's form. It looked as if he was holding a stuffed animal. Blossom hardly got any sleep at all. She was too afraid to fall asleep. At the same time, Blossom was contemplating escape without waking her rival. Pretty soon however, exhaustion was kicking in because of stress. Finally, the Powerpuff leader konked out.

A few hours later, dawn just barely broke into the sky. Birds began chirping their morning announcements, which woke Blossom. She jolted up and instantly froze. A sigh of relief came when it was apparent that the red clad boy was still in a deep sleep. And to her miraculous fortune, his grip on her form had gotten quite loose. Quietly and carefully, Blossom removed his arms from around her. Then she was free. Without another thought, she rushed towards the door and flew out of there at top speed. All that mattered to her, was getting home without getting caught by Brick. At long last, she reached her house. She opened one of the three round windows and floated in. Poor Blossom collapsed at the foot of her bed, completely exhausted. The pink clad girl curled up and started to cry softly. Buttercup who was sound asleep, fluttered her eyes open to the noise and gasped lightly at what she saw. Quite frankly, the raven haired girl wanted to give her sister such a tongue lashing. But seeing Blossom like this, made her relent. Buttercup crawled quietly out of the blankets and sheets and over to Blossom. She gently rubbed her red headed sister's shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, you okay?" Buttercup asked softly.

There was a moment of silence before Blossom finally spoke up.

"No...I'm not." she admitted with a whimper.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Buttercup asked again.

Another silence. This time, it was longer. The lime clad girl let out a heaving sigh.

"Look Blossom," she began. "I don't know what the heck makes you think that holding back is a good idea, but it isn't. Not only are you hurting us by making us worry, but you're also hurting yourself. I mean, have you seen yourself lately?"

Buttercup paused to allow her words to sink in Blossom's mind. While she was talking, Bubbles had awoken.

"What I'm trying to say," raven haired girl continued. "is you need to let us help you. We're a team and a family. How many times have we solved each other's problems? You've helped Bubbles and I a lot, why don't you let us help _you_ this time?"

Blossom's eyes watered with more and heavier tears. Everything that her sister had said was right and she could not deny it. As hot thick tears trickled down her cheeks, Blossom flung herself at Buttercup, wrapping her arms around her lime clad sister, and began to openly sob her heart out.

"Oh Buttercup..." Blossom whimpered. "I'm...I'm so sorry!"

Buttercup and Bubbles hugged their distraught sister. Blossom clung to her raven haired sister and refused to let go.

"It's okay, Blossom." Buttercup cooed while stroking the Powerpuff leader's hair.

"Yeah, we forgive you." Bubbles piped in softly.

"Just tell us what happened."

Blossom hiccupped a little.

"I-I've...been having...nightmares...about Brick." she tearfully explained. "And he...found out...and..and..."

"And ever since, he's been hassling you." Buttercup finished.

The pink clad girl nodded and continued to sob. Her sisters scooted closer to her and hugged her tighter.

"It'll be okay, Blossom." Buttercup said softly. "Don't you worry."

While they were having a moment, they were being closely watched by the culprit himself. And Brick was _NOT_ happy. The last thing he wanted was Blossom's sisters involved.

"So that's how it is, huh Red?" Brick muttered to himself. "Well, I'm gonna make you regret that!"

With that, the Rowdyruff leader flew off in search of his brothers forming a plan.


	14. Taken

-Chapter 14: Taken-

Throughout the most of the day, Blossom was getting much needed rest from her ordeal the night before. Meanwhile, Buttercup and Bubbles were discussing a plan of action.

"I can't believe Brick was bullying Blossom." Bubbles said.

"Me neither." Buttercup agreed, although she had some slight suspicions. "He must've threatened her big time if she kept her mouth shut for this long."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Well, first of all, we're not going to let Blossom out of our sight. Not even for a second."

"Sure. Is that why we're in our room instead of the kitchen?"

"Duh! And another thing, the next time we see those stupid Rowdyruff jerks, we need to protect Blossom and make sure that Brick never goes near her again."

"Right!"

While they were talking, Blossom was quietly listening as she lay on their bed with her pink eyes half-way open. She was very deep in thought and wondering about Brick. The Powerpuff leader snuggled deeper into her pillow and shuddered, closing her eyes completely.

XXXXXXX

Brick had zipped at high speed to his and his brothers' hand out, full of steam. When he got there, he angrily began to trash things around. This caused his snoozing brothers to awake with Boomer jolting up in surprise, and Butch just casually opening his green eyes half-way. The raven haired boy had his hands behind his head when he lazily cracked his eyes open. This was probably when he was actually the most calm.

"Something wrong, dude?" the green clad boy inquired.

"...That stupid girl snitched on me to her stupid sisters!" Brick ranted.

Butch merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I toldja those Powerpuff's were not to be trusted." the raven haired boy remarked.

"So what are gonna do?" Boomer asked curiously.

An evil and devilish smile spread instantly on the Rowdyruff leader's face.

"I thought you'd never ask..." he sneered.

"Wait a minute...trashing our stuff was just an act?" Butch exclaimed, catching on.

"One way to get your attention."

"Aww, heck, you're not gonna drag us into getting pay back are you?"

"Well, sort of. Think of it this way, since I have leader girl practically under my thumb, the Powerpuff Girls will be easier to defeat."

Butch and Boomer took a moment to think. They honestly never thought of things that way.

"Which, by the way," Brick continued. "will make it easier for us, to run down Townsville. So, not only will I get to teach leader girl a lesson, you guys also get to do whatever you want to Townsville, without having to worry or deal with those stupid babies!"

Boomer and Butch liked the sound of that, however, the green clad boy still had a problem.

"Will this even work?" Butch asked.

"Don't worry about it, bro." the red clad boy assured Butch. "If we plan this carefully and make sure there will be no foul ups, it'll be cool."

Butch exchanged glances with Boomer, and then nodded in agreement at their red headed brother. Then they huddled together like a football team.

"So what are we gonna do first?" Boomer asked.

"I'll tell ya what we're gonna do," Brick said with an evil and toothy grin. "we're gonna hold leader girl hostage."

XXXXXXX

Two days later, the weekend came and went. The Powerpuff Girls were back at school for what would be the last week before school let out for the summer. The entire class was excited and very animated on what they would do during their summer vacation. The girls were not animate about it. In the past two days, they were on the alert and the watch for their male rivals. So far, things were uneventful. While that would normally be a good thing, it drove poor Blossom crazy. The pink clad girl was paranoid of Brick striking back or even appearing. Buttercup kept trying to reassure her fearful sister that needn't worry and that the lime clad girl and Bubbles were watching her back. Buttercup had especially stuck to Blossom's side like super glue.

Then, during lunch time when the class was outside on the playground, Ms. Keane came running out of the classroom with the Powerpuff Hotline in her hands.

"Girls!" she cried. "The mayor called. There's a giant monster attacking Townsville!"

"We're on it, Ms. Keane!" Blossom declared.

The Powerpuff trio took off into the sky towards the city. During their flight, Buttercup had a few concerns.

"Hey, you sure you can handle this?" the raven haired girl asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Blossom replied. "I'll be alright. Let's go girls!"

They continued on their way and sure enough, a huge, slimy, and six tentacled monster attacking the city. The girls made out attack patterns to weaken him. Blossom flew around in various circles, using her light beam to confuse the beast. Buttercup in her normal routine, beat the hell out of him while Bubbles attempted to put its tentacles in a knot. As the battle got really heated up, the monster being heavily weakened, attempted to make one desperate strike at the girls. It waved its tentacle at them. Buttercup and Bubbles managed to dodge it and Blossom tried to do so herself.

"BLOSSOM! LOOK OUT!" Buttercup cried.

But the lime clad girl's warning came too late. The beast's appendage swatted Blossom away like a fly.

"BLOSSOM!" Buttercup and Bubbles cried in unison.

In retaliation, the two girls gave the final blow and ultimately destroyed the monster threatening their city. Meanwhile, Blossom landed in another part of the city, creating a crater in her wake. Groaning, she got up and rubbed her head, clearing it of dust and rubble.

"Kinda tough...ain't it, Red?"

Blossom froze at the sound of that voice. She spun around and saw Brick standing a foot away from her with his arms folded. The pink clad girl instantly backed away, trembling.

"Guess that monster was a little too much for ya, huh?" Brick sneered.

Blossom gasped in realization. It was a set up. The whole thing was a set up. The red headed girl turned around to make a run for it, but suddenly found herself surrounded. Barring her way, was Butch and Boomer also with their arms folded and devilishly smiling at her.

"You see, Red." Brick said. "We've got a rule about squealers."

Blossom was horrified. She couldn't believe this was happening. In a split second, the Powerpuff leader zipped into the air in a frantic search for her sisters.

"BUTTERCUP, BUBBLES, HE-!"

Butch had easily snatched her out of the air with little or effort at all.

"Nuh, uh, uh. I don't think so, leader girl." the green clad boy sneeringly hissed.

The rest of the Rowdyruff's joined him as Blossom desperately thrashed about in Butch's arms. But no matter how hard she tried, the raven haired boy's grip was just as strong as his red clad brother's. Perhaps even stronger.

"Heh, you were right, Brick. She _is_ an easy catch." Butch quipped.

Brick and Boomer giggled evilly. Poor Blossom gave up and slumped in Butch's arms. Then the trio zipped away with their prisoner in tow.

XXXXXXX

Buttercup and Bubbles were just wrapping up when they heard their pink clad sister's cries for help and then abruptly silence. Without even thinking, Buttercup tore through the air in search of Blossom. A few seconds later Bubbles was right behind her. They came to the area were their leader had fallen after being swatted away by the monster. All they found, was a lonely crater. And no Blossom.

"No..." Buttercup rasped. "DAMMIT, NO!"

Bubbles gasped at her sister's swearing and even more so when she started tearing up stuff in a desperate search for their leader. The baby-blue clad girl flew up behind Buttercup and grabbed her waist, holding her back.

"Stop, Buttercup!" Bubbles pleaded. "This won't solve anything!"

"_WE LOOK LIKE JERKS HERE_!" Buttercup exclaimed in anger. "_WE SAID WE'D PROTECT HER, AND WE FREAKING LET HER DOWN!_"

In a fit of fury, Buttercup used her laser eyes on a nearby mailbox. Bubbles then got in front of her with her hands at her hips.

"Now, look." the blonde haired girl scolded. "Blowing up stuff isn't gonna help Blossom. We need to go find her!"

Buttercup gave a sullen look.

"You're right. I'm sorry." she muttered. "Come on."

Then, they flew off in search of Blossom. The two Powerpuff sisters left no stone unturned and they questioned any bystander who they happened to come across. And every person they met had not seen, nor any idea where the pink clad girl might be. When the girls passed by the suburbs, Bubbles spotted something.

"Buttercup, look!" the baby-blue clad girl cried out.

They zipped down and saw something dumped on their front porch. It was Blossom's bow. Buttercup boiled with rage.

"I'm gonna kill those guys!" she hissed.

Then they heard the Powerpuff Hotline ring from within the house. Both Buttercup and Bubbles exchanged glances.

"Should we answer it?" Bubbles asked.

"Mmmm...yeah we better." Buttercup groaned.

They went inside and the lime clad girl flew to their phone and picked it up.

"What is it, Mayor?" she answered.

"You know, the old man doesn't do much for security."

It was Brick. He had gone to the Townsville Hall and tied up the mayor so he could have access to the hotline. Buttercup's fury mounted again.

"Where is she?" the raven haired girl demanded.

"That's for me to know and you to find out later." Brick replied smugly.

"Dammit, Brick! Where the heck did you take her?"

"Oooo, getting testy are we?"

"Don't you dare take that crap with me!"

Brick let out a laugh. This was too much fun. Buttercup on the other hand, was getting really pissed off.

"Well, we're gonna keep her for a day or two." the red clad boy sneered. "And then maybe we'll give her book."

The lime clad girl nearly popped a vein.

"Nuh, uh!" she yelled into the receiver. "You give Blossom back right-hello?"

Brick had hung up. In a fit of rage, Buttercup grabbed the hotline and flung it towards the other side of the room. Before it impacted upon the walls, Bubbles caught it.

"What did I tell you earlier?" she ranted. "Besides, this is the only Hotline we have!"

"Sorry!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Those stupid freaking jerks! Come on, we're going to try looking for them again."

"Okay."

With that, they took off again.


	15. Negotiations

-Chapter 15: Negotiations-

The Rowdyruff Boys went to their most secret hang out, that few people in Townsville, even villains, hardly knew existed. It was a very secluded area, surrounded by heaps of scrap metal. A great hiding place for boys. And that's why the Rowdyruff's chose it as one of their own. Being held prisoner in one of the clusters of metal and iron was Blossom. They tied her up in chains so she wouldn't get away and they gagged her so her sisters couldn't hear her cries for help. Blossom let out a very sad sigh, wondering if she had this coming or not. She desperately wanted to get home to her sisters and the Professor. Blossom missed them all very much. Then, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She lifted her head to see who it was. To her horror, it was Brick. Blossom shivered and curled into a ball. Brick just rolled his furious crimson eyes at her.

"The boys went out for chilidogs." he announced in a business-like tone. Then his voice turned sultry. "So it's just you an' me, babe."

Blossom did not answer him. She couldn't anyway since she was gagged. Brick came over to her and knelt beside her.

"If you agree to be a good girl, I'll take that gag off ya." he whispered into the pink clad girl's ear.

Blossom gave out a groan and then reluctantly nodded.

"Good, I knew you see things my way." Brick purred while smirking.

He undid the dull pine green cloth around the Powerpuff leader's face. She let out a cough after he did so.

"Where has that thing been?" the pink clad girl cried.

"Heck if I know." Brick replied shrugging and tossing the cloth aside.

"Wouldja mind taking these off of me too?"

She motioned herself to the chains. The red clad boy raised an eyebrow.

"You really think I'm _that_ stupid, Red?" he snorted.

"But it hurts!" Blossom protested. "And I think it's cutting off my circulation."

"Too bad."

The red-headed girl let out another whine.

"Please, Brick?" she pleaded. "I won't do anything, I promise!"

Which was really dumb of her to say. Especially since she wanted to escape so badly.

"Fine." Brick relented. "But you pull just _one_ stunt, Red, and you'll be really sorry."

Blossom nodded slowly and her male counterpart undid the chains around her. After doing so, the Powerpuff leader moaned, rubbing her arms up and down. They were slightly bruised from the metallic bonds. This prompted Brick to gently pull her into his lap.

"Didn't know they were on _that_ tight." he mumbled.

He pulled her closer and began rubbing her arms as well. Blossom tried pulling away.

"Will ya quit squirming?" Brick quietly barked.

"Can you respect my personal space?" Blossom cried.

"No, and this is for ratting me out to your sisters!"

That hurt. Really bad. Blossom could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"I hate you..." she muttered, with her voice cracking.

Brick smiled smugly.

"Thank you." he replied in glee, nuzzling her neck.

Blossom let out a sigh. This was just too much.

'How did I get myself into this mess?' she thought in question.

"How long are you gonna keep me here?" Blossom asked in a low as if she were afraid to ask that question.

"Well I don't know, that depends." Brick said nonchalantly. "Gotta figure out something with my bros."

Blossom let out another groan. The red clad boy just pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck a little more.

"In the meantime," he continued. "you're staying here, until I say otherwise, igot that?/i"

There was silence.

"Yes, Brick." Blossom whispered.

"Good." Brick sneered, clutching his rival like a teddy bear.

XXXXXXXX

Buttercup and Bubbles went in search of the Rowdyruff Boys and their sister who was still M.I.A. They split up in hopes of making their search easier. They searched high and low and in every nook and cranny. Still nothing. No Rowdyruff Boys and no Blossom. Buttercup was getting increasingly frustrated with every disappointment. Bubbles was getting worried herself. The two returned to their home for a brief period of time to x out the places they searched.

"Okay, we've looked the park, the playground..." Buttercup murmured.

"Oh, and don't forget the museum." Bubbles reminded her.

Suddenly the Powerpuff Hotline rang out.

"Oh, darn it!" Buttercup ranted, throwing a crayon aside.

She zipped to the phone and answered it.

"What's the trouble, Mayor?" the lime clad girl asked.

"Hey there..."

It was Brick again.

"So tell me, how badly do you want your sister back?" he asked with a sneer.

"Now, you creep!" Buttercup angrily exclaimed.

"Careful there, babe. You might not get her back at all."

The raven haired girl suppressed a growl and the urge to punch something.

"That's better." Brick said in a smoothly. "Now then, what would you give us in exchange for your sister?"

"What can we give you?" Buttercup asked in reply. "What is it that you want?"

"Weeelll...I can think of a few things."

Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

"Such as?" she asked again.

"Well, my bros would like to have free reign of the streets." Brick replied.

"Is that all?"

"Well let's see...oh yes, I'd like to have visiting rights for your sister."

Buttercup almost popped another vein.

"Out of the question!" she snapped.

"Oh well, I guess you don't want your sister back then..."

"Okay wait! We'll...we'll think about it."

Brick made an evil smile.

"Very good then. See ya later."

The next thing Buttercup heard, was the dial tone. She heaved a big sigh and hung up the phone. a moment later, Bubbles joined her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They won't give Blossom back until we give them what they want." Buttercup explained.

"What do they want?"

"Well, they wanna run Townsville and Brick wants visiting rights."

"Visiting rights? What does that mean?"

"It means that he wants to keep seeing Blossom after we get her back."

"_WHAT?_"

"I know, I know. We need to figure out some way to work this to advantage."

The girls went floating back into the kitchen, thinking of a good plan to get Blossom returned to their custody.

XXXXXXX

The Powerpuff leader was still trapped inside the one cluster of metal that the Rowdyruffs dumped her in. Now she was sitting in a crouched position and staring lowly at the floor, deep in thought. The silence was killing her inside. The boys had left her along a few hours ago. She had to wonder when they would be back. Slowly, she closed her eyes and gently fell to her side. Blossom figured a little rest wouldn't hurt. No sooner was she asleep, Brick came calling again.

"I'm back, Red." he said in a low voice.

"Go away." Blossom muttered.

"Nah, I don't think so."

The red clad boy sat down in a crouched position beside his female counterpart. There was a silence between the two before Blossom broke it.

"When are you going to let me leave?" she asked in a low voice.

"Mmmmm, maybe never. Unless your sisters agree to our terms." Brick replied nonchalantly.

That caught the pink clad girl's attention.

"What _terms?_" she questioned.

"We get to rule the streets and I get visit you whenever I wish."

Blossom could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"Are you out of your mind?" she cried. "You know we can't allow that! And what makes you think that I'll want to see you ever again after this? Or even want to hear your voice?"

Brick then started to crowd over to the red headed Powerpuff.

"What? You don't want to see little ol' me anymore?" he said in a sort of sing-song voice.

Blossom shuddered and backed away from him. The red clad boy was trying to get under her skin again. Brick managed to corner Blossom as she attempted to get away.

"Why won't you let me have my personal space?" she cried.

"Will you just relax, Red?" Brick replied softly.

The Rowdyruff pulled Blossom gently into his lap like before. Blossom trembled in his hold, feeling very uncomfortable.

"You look awful, Red." Brick commented.

"That's because I haven't slept in hours..." Blossom muttered.

"Then take a nap or somethin'."

Blossom narrowed her pink eyes and glared at her male counterpart.

"While you're looming over me like a vulture? In your dreams." she snapped.

"Then don't complain." Brick replied, shrugging his shoulders.

The pink clad girl let out a sigh of frustration. Poor thing was so tired that she couldn't think straight. She would have to fall asleep in Brick's lap if she wanted to rest. Blossom reluctantly laid her head down and closed her eyes.

"I really hate you..." she murmured.

Brick only smiled at this.

"I know." he purred as he proceeded to pet her like a kitten.

Very quickly, Blossom was out like a light bulb with Brick looming over her. His furious crimson eyes softened only slightly and the strange emotion that he had felt before, came back again. Joined by a new feeling that proceeded to take over his malicious and cold heart. Desire and want.

'You're just gonna have to bite the bullet, Red.' Brick thought. 'Cause I ain't giving you up for anything.'


	16. Trade

-Chapter 16: Trade-

Another day had passed and no agreement had been reached by either the Powerpuff Girls or the Rowdyruff Boys. Buttercup and Bubbles were still trying to figure out a way to retrieve Blossom without practically giving the boys the keys to the city. Meanwhile, Blossom herself, was dreading every second she had to stay in that junk yard of scrap metal. She couldn't wait to get away from Brick. The pink clad girl had decided against trying to escape from the yard. She didn't want to provoke the darker side of Brick or his brothers and place anyone in jeopardy if some unlucky bystander became involved. Like the Professor.

XXXXXXX

In the late morning, the Rowdyruffs had gone out again, leaving Blossom behind and alone. She wondered how long they would be gone this time. Suddenly, an idea had presented itself. Even though Blossom didn't want to leave the 'compound' until her sisters managed to resolve the situation, she at least wanted to attempt at making contact with Buttercup and Bubbles. Very cautiously, the red head girl floated out of the clustered 'room'. She looked around in various places in case if Brick set a trap for her should she try to leave the area. The pathway became narrower and narrower which made Blossom start to breathe in anxiety. Then she managed to get outside. Surrounding her were mountains of scrap metal and junk. Moving a little further, the pink clad girl spotted an incinerator. If something like that was around here, then the entire must be runned by someone other than the Rowdyruff Boys.

With caution and speed, Blossom flew around half a foot off the ground. She didn't want to be spotted from afar by the boys. After a few minutes, the Powerpuff leader spotted a pay phone. Blossom could hardly believe her good fortune. She searched around and found a nickel lying on the ground. Quickly, the red head girl slid the coin into the machine and frantically dialed her house number.

XXXXXXX

Buttercup floated around in a pacing manner while Bubbles was seated on the couch. Then their house telephone rang which was a bit odd. Nevertheless, the lime clad girl went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Buh...Buttercup?"

Buttercup gasped at the croaking sound of her missing sister's voice.

"_Blossom?_" she cried, prompting Bubbles to quickly join her. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Blossom muttered.

The raven haired girl and her baby-blue clad sister both listened intently to the phone.

"Where the heck are you?" Buttercup questioned.

"I'm...I'm not really sure." Blossom replied. "Listen, I can't talk for long. They'll be back..."

"Well describe it for me."

"It looks like a junk yard I think. But it's not the one that the Gangreen Gang live at. Anyway, I heard that you were negotiating?"

Buttercup made a wry face.

"Yeah." the lime clad girl replied. "I'm not sure how we're going to work that out. Usually you're the one that does all that."

"I know." Blossom said with a heavy sigh. "They didn't leave us much maneuvering room either."

"So what then?"

The pink clad girl thought hard. Unless the girls owned up to Brick's conditions, he would not let her go. Blossom could figure out some way around the taking over Townsville part, but she couldn't ferret her way out of having to constantly see her red clad rival.

"I think I have a solution.." the Powerpuff leader murmured.

"Okay..." Buttercup replied.

"You may not like it, but it's all I can think off."

"Shoot."

"The Rowdyruff boys can run the streets but only at night. And...I'll agree to let Brick visit me once a week."

There was a dead silence. Buttercup pinched the bridge of her nose

"Are you sure that's the _best_ you can come up with?" she asked in dismay.

"Yeah." Blossom replied sadly.

There was another dead silence.

"I don't like this." Buttercup told her pink clad sister.

"I don't like it either, but it's the only plan we've got." Blossom replied. "Oh crud...I gotta go!"

"No, Blossom don't hang-"

But it was too late. The next thing the lime clad girl heard was the dial tone. She exchanged sullen looks with Bubbles. It felt like they were being defeated. Big time. Buttercup put down the phone and floated the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Bubbles asked.

"She said she's in some junk yard." Buttercup replied in a low and stern voice. "Can't be too hard to find..."

"Wait Buttercup, don't you think we should take Blossom's offer into consideration? And if we go out and blast things up, we'll just make things worse."

The raven haired girl suppressed a growl. Her sister was right of course, but she really didn't want to go through with it. Buttercup would rather fight than agree to such terms.

"Ugh, alright." she said in complete disgust.

"So, what do we do now?" Bubbles asked.

"Wait for those stupid jerks to call us back."

XXXXXXX

After hanging up the phone, Blossom rushed back to her 'prison'. To her surprise, it was much easier getting in than out. No wonder Brick chose it. Sitting in a crouched position, Blossom absorbed what she had just suggested to her sisters. She wondered if she had made the right choice. Allowing the Rowdyruffs to take the city at night went against everything that she and her sisters stood for. But at the very least, they would be control the damage the damage they created the night before. Another hour later, the boys came back. Blossom knew this because she could hear Brick coming into the cluster of metal that the pink clad girl was housed in. She didn't really care right now. The Powerpuff leader felt rather depressed. And like goo.

"'Sup, Red?" Brick greeted in a low voice when he came in.

"Go away, Brick." Blossom muttered. "I'm not in the mood..."

"Are you now?"

In a fit of frustration and rage, Blossom tried to punch her male counterpart. But Brick easily caught her fist and held it as the red head girl struggled to make her hit. Then he yanked her towards him and he stole a quick peck from her. Blossom squirmed around and tried pushing him away. Finally she was able to smack him slightly.

"Will you just go away?" Blossom cried.

"No, I won't." Brick replied straight forwardly.

The Powerpuff leader let out a cry of fury and tried hitting the Rowdyruff again. Brick easily dodged her blows, adding more frustration to the pink clad girl.

"This is actually fun." the red boy quirked.

Blossom made a growl. She tried shoving him away, but when she did it gave him the opportunity to wrap his arms around her. Finally the red head girl gave up.

"I really, really hate you." Blossom muttered.

"I know." Brick purred.

He began to cuddle her. So many things went through her mind and most of them were violent. That surprised her because Blossom was usually a nonviolent person. Then Brick stole another kiss from her. Only this time, Blossom surprisingly kissed back. Receiving attention from her, made Brick get aggressive, causing the embrace to get deeper and more intense. The Rowdyruff's hold his rival became tighter and he refused to let go.

XXXXXXX

The very next day, Buttercup and Bubbles were anxiously awaiting a phone call from the Rowdyruff Boys. The lime clad girl kept floating around the house aimlessly in a nervous and pacing like manner. Bubbles just sat quietly and patiently on the couch, as if she were meditating. A number of times, Buttercup nearly went zipping out of the house to go in search of their male rivals. Bubbles nearly a fit from having to watch her raven haired sister going back and forth.

"Buttercup, will you stop already?" the baby-blue clad girl cried.

"They should've called already!" Buttercup ranted.

"Don't worry, Buttercup, they will. Just have a little faith, will ya?"

Then, the Powerpuff Hotline rang out, prompting both girls to race over to the phone and answer it.

"Hello?" Buttercup cried.

"Sup babe? Happy to hear from us?"

It was Butch on the line this time.

"Cut the crap, you jerk." the lime clad girl growled.

"Hey, you better watch it, girlie." Butch warned.

Buttercup pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to suppress her rage and irritation.

"Okay look," she said. "we have an offer."

"We're listening." the green clad boy replied.

"We'll you run the streets, but only at night. And...Brick can see Blossom. ONCE A WEEK tho."

There was a silence. Butch turned to his brothers for their input.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked.

"Them girlies do drive a hard bargain." Brick mused.

"Hanging out at night would be kinda cool tho." Boomer quirked.

"For once, I have to sort of agree with Boomer." Butch added.

Brick took a moment to think. While his brothers were satisfied with running the streets at night, the red clad boy was a bit irked at only being able to see Blossom once a week. But that was better than not seeing her at all. And perhaps there would be a way to get around that.

"Gimme the phone." Brick told his raven haired brother.

Butch handed the Rowdyruff leader the phone without question.

"Alright, we'll consider your offer." Brick told the two Powerpuff Girls.

Buttercup's lime eyes narrowed when she heard the red headed boy's voice.

"Fine. Now where is she?" the lime clad girl demanded.

"Patience, girlie." Brick sneered. "Now listen and listen good! There's a metal junk yard south from where you are. Go there in one hour and we'll give you back your sister."

"You better..."

"Oh, and one more thing. No funny stuff."

Then, Brick hung up. Buttercup exchanged a sullen with Bubbles.

"Well, it's done and over with, I guess." the raven haired girl murmured.

"Yeah." Bubbles agreed.

"I'm not sure what'll happen after this, but at least we'll have Blossom back."

The blonde haired girl nodded.

"Don't worry, Buttercup. I'm sure everything will turn out okay." she said.

XXXXXXX

An hour passed. It seemed like waiting for a lifetime. The two Powerpuff Girls flew off to the scrap metal yard to retrieve their sister. They finally arrived at their destination, and waiting for them, was the Rowdruff Boys. Brick was standing with his arms folded, while Butch and Boomer were standing with Blossom in between them. She looked like a complete mess. Her dress was stained and the hem, along with her stockings, were ripped. The pink clad girl's hair seemed to stick out a little. She had really dark circles under her eyes. When her sister landed, there was a moment of a stare down.

"Okay, Red." Brick said. "You can go now."

Butch and Boomer stood aside and allowed Blossom to walk towards her sisters. When the exchange was complete, the Rowdyruff leader stepped forward .

"Alright now, beat it before we change our minds." he hissed.

With that, the boys flew off. Second later, the girls hugged their pink clad sister tightly and a few tears were shed. They were all so relieved to be reunited and that Blossom was safe and unharmed.

"Let's go home." Buttercup said, her voice slightly cracking.

A moment later, the Powerpuff Girls flew home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hang on to your hats folks, cuz it ain't over yet! :D<strong>


	17. Epilogue

-Epilogue-

Things had slowly gone back to normal. Summer vacation had finally come, and the citizens of Townsville were enjoying themselves albeit finding some of their property and the buildings damaged from the nights before. Many assumed it was either Mojo Jojo, HIM, or the Gangreen Gang responsible and that the Powerpuff Girls had taken care of them. Life for the girls was slowly going back to its normal routine although it wasn't quite the same as before. Still, they continued to valiantly protect Townsville as they always had.

XXXXXXX

It was a Friday night. Blossom was on her own and flying around the city. The pink clad girl was getting back to being her old self, but her misadventures with Brick had left their mark on her. In the weeks that had followed, she was able to get enough rest to rid her of the shadows under her eyes and also restored her good health. Her nightmare hadn't stopped, but they happening less and less to a point where it was almost a rare occurrence. Blossom finally landed on a street corner bearing a street light. It was 7 P.M. The red head girl waited in silence for a few minutes. Sounds of cars driving, crickets chirping, and the rustling of the leaves were the only things heard. There was a crescent moon out tonight. Then she heard shuffling noises behind her.

"'Evenin', Red."

It was the Rowdyruff leader.

"You're late." Blossom murmured in a no-nonsense tone.

Brick merely shrugged.

"Only by a few minutes, but who's countin'?" he remarked.

Blossom slightly rolled her eye at him. Brick took her hand and they took off into the night sky.

-THE END-

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Annnnnd dats the end. I MIGHT write a sequal, I need to really think about that. I hope you all enjoyed this :) See ya!<strong>


	18. Sequel? Yes

Announcement:

Okay, I do have a sequel in mind for this gig. As soon as I get my hands on a blank notebook, I shall begin writing. Working title right now is '_Darkest Desires-Fear 2'_

But I'm planning to write another fic dealing with the Animaniacs franchise (you know, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot?) and that will come about in May so when that month comes around I will halt writing on the sequel and other fics that I may be working on so I can devote all my attention to the Animaniacs fic (because I've been trying for a year to get the story into fruitation) at least until a couple of chapters are posted.

So stay posted because a sequel is coming :D


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